Kimi Antonelli won the Miami Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday, beating McLaren’s Lando Norris by 3.264s after a pit-stop sequence that flipped the race in the early stages. Norris had taken the lead shortly after a Safety Car period, but Antonelli and Mercedes gained the edge when McLaren stayed out one lap longer.
Norris finished second after his stop came one lap later than Antonelli’s, leaving McLaren to rejoin behind the Mercedes driver and chase from there. Oscar Piastri made it a strong day for McLaren by passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc late to take the final position on the podium, underlining the team’s best result of the season so far.
Norris did not hide the feeling inside the car. “A mixed bag, really,” he said. “We just got undercut. No excuses other than that. We got undercut; we should have boxed first.” He added that Antonelli “did a good job” and praised Mercedes for a strong race, but said he was “gutted to miss out on a win here in Miami,” calling victory possible before admitting McLaren did not have the pace to get back past the teenager in the end. “We take it on the chin, and it’s still a positive weekend altogether,” he said.
The result came after a weekend in which McLaren showed both speed and vulnerability. Piastri said qualifying on Saturday was “a bit messy for both of us [McLaren drivers],” but said the pace looked more encouraging on Sunday. “It’s not been the most straightforward of weekends,” he said, thanking the team and calling McLaren “a step closer in performance once again.” He said the team had “definitely” taken a step forward and that the Miami race showed what it can do when it gets track position.
That is the tension in McLaren’s current sprint: the car looks close enough to challenge, but not yet close enough to absorb a strategic miss. Norris had the lead after the Safety Car phase. Then the pit wall lost the position. Antonelli did the rest. For McLaren, the pace was good enough to fight at the front, but in Miami the race turned on one lap and one decision.
Piastri said he was optimistic about what comes next, adding that McLaren had “clearly” moved closer and that he hoped the team could take another step forward in Canada. For now, Miami left them with a winner’s pace, a podium finish and a clear lesson: if they get the track position right, they can make the sprint to the front count.
