What the teams said – Race day in Miami

McLaren

Norris got a great start and was challenging Verstappen into the first couple of corners. But he got squeezed, ran wide and that allowed Piastri through. From there, the Australian picked off Antonelli and then Verstappen for the lead, built a huge gap and was imperious as he grabbed his third straight Grand Prix win. Norris dropped to sixth after that first lap moment, but quickly made his way back up through the field. He had to work hard to get past Verstappen, and by then his team mate had too big an advantage for Norris to overhaul. But all in all, it was a dominant McLaren performance, as they built the field by over half a minute.

READ MORE: Norris concedes he 'paid the price' as he reflects on Lap 1 battle with Verstappen in Miami

Oscar Piastri, 1st

"It's a great feeling to have won the race today, one I really wanted to win! Clearly the car was unbelievable today and we were able to use that pace advantage. That’s down to everyone here trackside and the whole team at the factory putting in an incredible amount of hard work to get us to where we are now. As always, there’s lots of learnings to take away from the weekend but I’m very, very happy to be leaving Miami on top.”

Lando Norris, 2nd

“A good result for the team today and congratulations to Oscar on the victory, he drove really well this afternoon. Max [Verstappen] put up a fight at the start and frustratingly I paid the price but that's just the way it can be in racing. The team have done an amazing job all weekend, the car has been beautiful with great pace and the double-shuffle pit stop was mega. I'll take all these positives and get my head down at the factory to focus on Imola in two weeks' time.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“Today was an exceptional result for McLaren at the end of a remarkable weekend. First and second yesterday in the Sprint, followed by first and second again today in the Miami Grand Prix, which is a first for any team in a Sprint weekend. It’s a big haul of points, and we’re mindful that tomorrow is the anniversary of our first victory of this era, which was a fundamental milestone in the direction and development of our team.

“Not for the first time this year, I would like to thank the people at McLaren who have designed, manufactured, built and are racing this phenomenal car, as well as our technical and commercial partners, and fans who are with us on this exciting journey.

“After a very tight Qualifying session, it was great to see the car performing so well during the race, allowing Oscar and Lando to dominate. Oscar was clinical and very precise, taking the opportunities that came his way and displaying excellent pace. Lando was delayed in the mêlée at the start, recovering from sixth and then overtaking Max Verstappen later in the stint, but without this he was in strong contention for the win also.

“This is a great foundation for the rest of the year, but we also know that maybe these were exceptional circumstances. We’ll keep our feet on the ground, keep working on the MCL39 to improve it, and see where it takes us now the racing season moves back to Europe.”

Mercedes

Antonelli was running in second early on, but was powerless to hold the faster McLarens at bay. He then had a slow pit stop, which was before the VSC came out. All of that contrived to drop him behind his team mate, Russell benefitting from a cheap stop after starting on the hard tyre. He came out just ahead of Verstappen, and managed to stay in front of the Dutchman to pick up yet another podium.

George Russell, 3rd "I am really happy to come away with P3 today in Miami. I’ve been struggling a little more than usual this weekend and not felt as comfortable in the car as at previous races this season. I’ve been a little on the back foot but when it mattered, we’ve put in a good performance and come away with another strong result. Verstappen was close behind me after we pitted but I felt positive on the Medium tyre and knew I could manage my pace to keep him behind.

"Ultimately the McLarens had a decent advantage over the rest of the field so congratulations to them. It will be a tough ask to close them down, but we will keep working on doing that, and we’re looking forward to the upcoming triple header in Europe, starting at Imola."

Kimi Antonelli, 6th "Unfortunately, we didn’t just have the pace today to fight for much more than what we achieved. I made a good start and was running P2, but the McLarens had too much pace for us, and we dropped behind them. I still felt good on the Medium compound in the opening stint but I struggled a little more on the Hard tyre in the second half of the race. Our pace wasn’t great and that contributed to our P6 finish. We will have to analyse why that was as a team and see where we can improve.

"Overall, though, I am pleased with how the weekend went. Our qualifying pace was strong, and it was nice to take my first Sprint pole position. I’m still gaining experience in terms of my race management, and I am sure that will continue to get better as the season progresses. I am now excited for the next race at Imola and my first ever home Grand Prix. I am sure the atmosphere and support will be incredible, so I am very much looking forward to the weekend there."

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport "George drove a great race today and did everything he needed to do to claim third. It was another mature performance where he got everything out of the car that was there. Obviously, the gap to the McLarens was large though. That is disappointing but we are working hard to bring updates that will hopefully close that deficit. We’ve seen these performance gaps fluctuate over these first six races, and some weekends other teams get right in the mix at the front, but they are the team to beat right now.

"Kimi meanwhile showed his talent this weekend but had a race where he will take away some good learnings. That is completely normal for a rookie driver, and one that is just 18 years old. The race management will come as he continues to build his experience and we’re now looking forward to the upcoming triple-header in Europe. The next race will mark Kimi’s first ever home Grand Prix at Imola and I am sure he will be looking forward to that."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director "Congratulations to George on his fourth podium of the season. We benefited from the deployment of the Virtual Safety Car to jump Verstappen, but that is always one of the upsides of running long. We had opted to start George on the Hard compound so that we could do this and that decision paid off. We also estimated the chance of a wet race at about 50% but, despite a cell getting incredibly close, the rain just passed us by.

"Whilst George benefited from the Virtual Safety Car, Kimi lost out having stopped just before it came out. We had to box him to protect from Albon in the Williams who had the chance to deploy the undercut. Some traffic in the pit lane cost him and ultimately his pace on the Hard tyre consigned him to P6. It has still been another good weekend for Kimi though as he continues his development.

"McLaren were the class of the field once again today and we are working hard to close that gap. Overall, we leave Miami pleased we have added more points to our tally compared to Red Bull and Ferrari, but knowing we have got work to do if we are to challenge at the very front each weekend. Our single lap has been a strength, but we need to improve our long run pace. Hopefully we can make some gains in this area starting in Imola in two weeks’ time."

Red Bull

Verstappen led in the early stages, but found himself under pressure from Piastri. He kept pushing the Australian wide into Turn 1, but in the end out-braked himself and let the McLaren past. He also defended hard against Norris, those two swapping places multiple times before again the McLaren got through. Verstappen looked on for third, but got jumped by Russell in the pits courtesy of a VSC. As for Tsunoda, he picked up a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, and managed to put his foot down on the last few laps to pull a five-second gap to Hadjar behind to make sure he held on to the last point.

Max Verstappen, 4th

“Yesterday I said that I would try my very best and I gave it everything that I could, but it ended up being a struggle out there. I tried to put up a fight, but in the end it was impossible to keep them behind. We got a bit unlucky with the VSC, but of course that is part of racing and overall the pace wasn’t really there. We had nothing to lose so I was just trying to have a bit of fun on the track and it was cool to be out there racing. The race was unfortunately quite difficult for us in general and we ultimately lacked pace and struggled with the breaks. Every time that I tried to get close or push a bit more, my tyres would overheat a lot. It was really down to tyre management today and the track had quite high degradation, which is not our strong suit at the moment. We need a bit more performance to make sure we are more competitive, but we were quite far off today."

Yuki Tsunoda, 10th

“It was unnecessary for me to be in that position with the time penalty and it made things a lot more difficult in the race for me and my old teammate certainly did nothing to make my life easier in those last few laps! Isack picked up the pace quite a lot, I was pushing a lot and he kept coming back. It was tough to keep the five second gap but I had to do what I had to do and I maximised the pace. I am happy I was able to score points but again, not happy with the pace I had. I think, as a Team, we struggled overall with race pace, it wasn’t just me and it is something we have to look at. I did all I could in this race. I gave the maximum that I can for now, it is tough to get the car in the place we want, but we will work towards it and make up for it in the future. I am feeling more confident in the car as the weeks go by and we will unlock it."

Christian Horner, Team Principal

"We gave it everything today but well done to McLaren, they were in a different league so P4 and a double points finish is as good as we could get from an often chaotic Miami GP. Max put up a staunch defence of his lead and position in the opening stint, but the VSC gave others the opportunity to capitalise on Max’s earlier stop and ultimately cost him a podium finish. P10 for Yuki who did well to hold onto his point in the end. The race showed that we still have a lot of work to do on the car to find that ultimate race pace. We’ll take our learnings back to Milton Keynes and come back with everything we have for our 400th race in Imola in a couple of weeks time."

Williams

Williams had a busy race, with their drivers swapping positions multiple times throughout the Grand Prix. In the end Albon ended up ahead, and managed to pull off a good overtake on Antonelli to climb to fifth. That matched his best result of the season, and made up for the P4 he lost in yesterday’s Sprint. Sainz also scored after surviving some last-lap contact with Hamilton.

Alex Albon, 5th

"I’m glad I could reset and go again after yesterday! The car was quick and today was all about pure pace. I had a good rhythm all race and I’m very happy with the result. To be battling with the top teams, I can hardly believe it to be honest, when you look at where we were 12 months ago. This shows all the progress we’ve made at Grove and now we’ve shown the world that we can race at the top. This won’t happen every race and we’ll definitely have to keep fighting. For now, I’m going to enjoy it!"

Carlos Sainz, 9th

"Not happy after a frustrating race. The operational misunderstanding of yesterday put us on the back-foot from the beginning as I had to start the race on a used compound. Avoiding Lando in Lap 1 when he rejoined the track unfortunately resulted in contact with Alex, which damaged my floor quite badly for the rest of the race. There was some miscommunication between our two sides of the garage that we will analyse internally, but to be honest, with the damage I had it was inevitable that I would end up losing positions. I did everything I could to hold on and stick with the cars ahead, but P9 was the final result. On a positive note, today we had very good pace and the balance of the car is the best it’s felt since the start of the season, so we’ll try to take the positives and review everything as a team."

James Vowles, Team Principal

"It’s been a topsy turvy weekend, but I’m really pleased for the team with the result today. Given the setbacks we had yesterday morning, to come back fighting with both cars in the top ten in Qualifying, and to finish with both cars in the points is incredibly rewarding. It’s a long season and teams will bring updates so it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out over the next few races, but to score from five of the first six races is a different world to where we’ve been previously. I couldn’t be more proud of the team and the world class drivers we have. Alex and Carlos are really giving their all to this team and we are on a good pathway moving forwards."

Ferrari

Ferrari appeared to get themselves into a pickle in Miami. Hamilton started on the hard tyre, Leclerc the medium. Hamilton climbed up through the field and had a cheap pit stop under the VSC, then found himself right on his team mate’s tail on different strategies. He asked to be let past, given he was on the faster mediums at the point - but the team only allowed it after three laps. Hamilton then could not motor on, leading to Leclerc asking to be let through. The team again allowed it but again after apparent delay, leaving both drivers a tad frustrated.

Charles Leclerc, 7th

"It has been a tough weekend for us. Over the last three races, we have made some good progress, but I just didn’t have that same feeling in the car this weekend and we need to understand why. Today, our pace wasn’t there on the first stint, then on the second stint I was managing at the start, after which I had to run in dirty air. I pushed again towards the end, but it just wasn’t enough. I will continue to always give everything I’ve got and we have to come together as a team and work on making more progress."

Lewis Hamilton, 8th

"Overall, we’ve made some solid steps forward this weekend. P8 isn’t where we aim to be of course, and there are definitely learnings to take moving forward, but considering where we started it was a decent recovery. I’m starting to feel more at one with the car, which is encouraging, and I’m as motivated as ever to be fighting at the front. We’re still lacking a bit of pace, but everyone is working incredibly hard behind the scenes and we’re hopeful of making progress in the coming races. We’ll just keep pushing and stay focused on the work ahead."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"We didn’t quite get the balance right this weekend, particularly yesterday in qualifying and then today we struggled in the middle of the group with little chance to secure a better result than this. When we were in free air, we were close to Mercedes and Red Bull in terms of pace. After a race like this there’s obviously a sense of frustration, but we need to stay focused and keep working hard in order to address the issues, dealing with our limitations step by step. On the strategy front, our calls were right: we pitted both our drivers under the Virtual Safety Car and this allowed Lewis to run behind Charles at the restart. Then we swapped the cars as soon as we were sure we were not putting Charles at risk from the cars behind, as Lewis was on Medium tyres and we wanted to try and catch Kimi Antonelli. It didn’t work so we reversed the call at the end as per our standard procedure."

Racing Bulls

Lawson was tagged into a spin in the first corner by Doohan, which dropped the Kiwi racer to last and also damaged his floor. He tried to continue, but ultimately retired thanks to that car damage. Hadjar came close to scoring in Miami, knowing Tsunoda ahead had a time penalty coming. He pushed and pushed late on to get within five seconds of the Red Bull, winding up losing out by just over a tenth of a second.

Isack Hadjar, 11th

"I’m not really happy with my driving today as I feel like I made some mistakes here and there, and in the end, I think that cost me the top 10. At the same time, however, it shows how much I pushed. There was no margin at all. We did several laps on hard tyres after the pit stop and overall it was an enjoyable race as it was a Qualifying battle with Yuki. I knew I was still within the five second gap during the last lap as I had the gap difference live. I gave everything I could, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough. We missed a point by just one-tenth and a half. I’m feeling confident heading to Imola next; I know the track well and I also won there in F2.”

Liam Lawson, DNF

“We had a really good start. A big gap opened up into turn one so I went in and was following whoever was in front of me and then felt a hit from the side. We took some big damage there and was holding out for some rain, but unfortunately it never came. It's a shame because the team have done a great job this weekend and the car has been fast. We'll reset ahead of the triple header, keep looking forwards and keep improving things."

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

“Miami was a very special weekend for us. It started with the fantastic reaction from the fans to our special livery, and it continued on track with a fast paced rollercoaster for Isack and Liam. Top 10 on Friday for Isack in SQ, then an incredible fight from P14 to P7 for Liam in the Sprint race, before a penalty stripped him of his points. In Qualifying for the Grand Prix itself, Isack just missed the cut to Q3 by two hundredths of a second, before missing the final point today by just 0.1s to Yuki after a very strong race. Liam’s race however was ruined following a collision on lap 1. The good news is that our car and our drivers showed strong pace again this weekend even if the points didn’t come. We will keep learning and pushing as hard as we can and we can’t wait to back on track in Imola in a couple of weeks, the first of our home races this season.”

Haas

Ocon could not convert his P9 grid slot into points in Miami, as he lost out to a recovering Hamilton midway through the race, and was also jumped by Hadjar. Bearman did not finish, parking up early on with what sounded like a PU problem. That was his first retirement of the season, to cap a difficult weekend for the rookie which saw him qualify in P20 twice.

Esteban Ocon, 12th

“It was a solid race on our side but unfortunately, we lacked a bit of pace to be fighting with the quicker guys in front. We didn’t get very lucky as we didn’t pit under VSC, had a couple of fights but they always ended the same way, so that was a bit frustrating. I think overall it’s been a strong weekend from the team and we need to keep that going once we find a bit more performance in the car. We’ll keep at it, there are some good learnings from this weekend, and some good expectations for the upcoming races, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Oliver Bearman, DNF

“It was going okay but I spent a good chunk of time in a DRS train, which obviously wasn’t ideal for the tyres. I think we had some pace but not enough to be in the points. We need to review what happened, I lost drive, and it’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to finish the race. I take away the positive that our pace and performance in the Sprint was competitive, and we move on to the next.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“Today’s been quite a tough race. With Ollie starting from P20, we tried to go forwards as much as possible but we had a PU failure, so that was the end of his race. Esteban’s first stint was okay – he was fighting against Hamilton pretty well and held him back for as long as he did, so he drove well – but we didn’t get our pit stop timing correct so we got undercut by Hadjar. That ruined it as in the second stint we couldn’t overtake him, which killed the tyres. I think because of Tsunoda’s penalty, we could’ve had P10 and that’s the really disappointing thing, but we need to learn from it. This weekend, sometimes we really nailed it; like in Q2 with Esteban, but Q1 and Q3 wasn’t great. There’s plenty of things that we need to understand, today’s race pace and decision making because the pit stop didn’t work, so we need to learn as a team and then put it right in Imola.”

Alpine

Doohan’s race did not last very long, as he made contact with Lawson in Turn 1 on the opening lap. That left him with a puncture, and he could not limp back to the pits – parking up near an escape road and bringing out a VSC. Gasly started from the pit lane after making some set-up changes overnight, but he could only recover to P13 at the flag.

Pierre Gasly, 13th

“Overall, it has been a difficult weekend for us. At least we are leaving Miami with one point following the Sprint Race yesterday, which was a bit unexpected. We knew that today’s race was going to be tricky after having had a couple of issues on the car which we tried to fix for today. It was a little bit better but ultimately, we lacked pace. I suppose we would have liked the rain to come during the race to give us a chance to fight but it did not come in the end. We need to do some analysis on the performance we had here as we have been faster in previous races, and it has been complicated here. We have work to do between now and the next race in Imola.”

Jack Doohan, DNF

“It was a tough end to the weekend for my side of the garage. We were starting from the middle of the pack which always creates a challenge coming into the first few corners. We were squeezed going into Turn 1 and with nowhere to go we had contact with [Liam] Lawson. The damage was too much to make it back to the pitlane safely and we ultimately had to retire the car. We showed some promise in the Sprint Race, especially in managing the difficult weather conditions, and I have felt comfortable in the car across the weekend. Our focus now shifts toward the next few races. We have the week ahead to reset and work to prepare for the upcoming triple-header as we head into the start of the European season.”

Oliver Oakes, Team Principal

“We leave Miami disappointed where ultimately, we lacked performance to be competitive enough to fight for points. Although we did not come away from Miami empty-handed, picking up one point in the Sprint. Pierre was not happy with how the car felt in Qualifying and given his starting position we opted to make changes to his car and start from the pitlane. The forecasted rain missed the circuit, so in a conventional dry race we tried to make progress and pitted Pierre under the second VSC. Although we made up several positions ultimately it was only good enough for 13th. Jack’s race unfortunately ended on the first lap after contact with Lawson at Turn 1. We have some time now between races to understand where we can improve and come back with some more performance for the European triple-header starting in Imola.”

Kick Sauber

Hulkenberg started on the hard tyre and was the last man to pit, but going long did not lead to the hoped for Safety Car. He dropped down the order when he swapped to the mediums, but did at least see the chequered flag. Bortoleto did not – he was radioing to say his power unit was suffering issues when he was called to the pits to retire. But he did not make it to the pits, having to park up off the track instead for his second DNF of the season.

Nico Hulkenberg, 14th

“It’s been a pretty clean race today and felt like one of the better ones this year. I managed to stay out of trouble at Turn One, when Lawson and Doohan collided, and worked on building a decent race pace. In contrast to most of the other cars I was on a reverse strategy, starting with hard tyres to deliver a long first stint. We didn't take the opportunity of the first Virtual Safety Car to make a pit stop, which is something we need to review with the team. However, it feels like we’ve taken another step forward this weekend. With a bit more performance and improved car balance, we believe we can get closer to fighting for points. With those improvements in mind, we’re now looking forward to starting the European part of the season.”

Gabriel Bortoleto, DNF

"It was a decent race up to the point we had to retire. We were solidly running in P13, just behind Ocon and ahead of Gasly, and I felt we could’ve held that position to the end. The pace was what we expected—we were a bit behind Haas and RB but still in the mix. Unfortunately, I started losing power on the straights in, what became my final laps, then had two big cuts in the corners, and eventually the car just shut down completely. From what I’ve been told, it looks like a fuel system issue that affected us, but I haven’t had time to analyse it with the team yet. It’s a shame, especially as DNFs have been rare in my career, but that’s part of the game. We can still take quite a few positive from the weekend—our single-lap performance and the pace we had before the issue are points on which we can build. We’ll look into everything we experienced this weekend, learn from it, and come back stronger for the next one."

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal

"Today’s race saw both our drivers get off the line well and deliver strong first stints. Unfortunately, we had to retire Gabriel due to a technical issue—potentially related to the fuel system—though we’ll know more once we’ve had a proper look at the car. Nico, starting from P16, pushed hard through the field. In hindsight, we may have benefited from boxing under the Virtual Safety Car, and that’s something we’ll need to analyse carefully. Despite the setbacks, the team delivered two very clean pit stops—2.2 and 2.5 seconds—which is a real credit to the crew. A lot of hard work went into this weekend, and we’ll take the lessons forward as we prepare for the European leg of the season."

Aston Martin

It was not to be for Aston Martin after a strong start to the weekend. Neither driver had much pace, Alonso’s day made worse by a spin in the early stages of the race as he lost the rear by himself. The team split the strategies, starting Alonso on the hard and Stroll the medium but to no avail, as they propped up the field.

Fernando Alonso, 15th

"Tough race. We didn't have the pace the whole weekend, and we expected the race to be difficult. We faced similar challenges today that we've had all season and couldn't capitalise on any chaos ahead of us. We need to get better and hopefully in Imola take a step forward."

Lance Stroll, 16th

"Difficult race for us today and very tricky conditions, as we expected. We just simply lack pace - we've been slow all season so far and today wasn't any exception. With an uneventful race and no opportunities, it just shows how we're not competitive and need to look at improving the car in all areas."

Andy Cowell, Team Principal

"Today's results in the Miami Grand Prix are a reminder that we are simply lacking car performance. There were very few opportunities to progress from our starting positions and the race turned out to be a comfortable one-stop race for the entire field. It was important that we scored four points with Lance yesterday in the Sprint, but under normal dry conditions we don't have a car capable of competing for points right now. We need to continue to analyse where we can improve and work hard to be more competitive in Imola."

Pirelli

Mario Isola, Motorsport Director

“It was a very straightforward race as far as the tyres were concerned. From the little data gathered over the weekend it had become clear that, despite bringing a trio of compounds one step softer than last year’s in order to create more strategy choices, it would probably still be a one-stop race and so it proved to be. There was very limited degradation on the C3 and the C4, in fact on the latter it was even less than expected. That explains why drivers who started on the Medium were able to extend their first stint to the halfway point of the race or even further, especially as the Virtual Safety Car made it easier for the leaders to switch to the Hard compound.

HIGHLIGHTS: Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 after thrilling race in Miami

"The low tyre degradation also contributed to the many battles, especially early on when drivers were able to push as hard as they wanted. It was a different scenario to the one we witnessed in Suzuka for example, a month ago. The track characteristics here are very different, with overtaking possibilities, and it also demonstrates how difficult it is to have everything in place to produce the great show that the fans deserve to see.”