Antonelli wins in Miami to extend title lead

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli held off McLaren’s Lando Norris in a race-long battle to win the Miami Grand Prix and take a commanding championship lead.

The 19-year-old Italian’s third win in a row moves him 20 points – not far from a clear win – ahead of team-mate George Russell, who finished fourth on Sunday, behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Antonelli prevailed in a gripping race, initially staging a three-car fight also including Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc before the race distilled down to a tussle between the Mercedes and Norris.

The long-threatened rain, which caused the race start to be brought forward by three hours, never materialised, apart from a few spots mid-race, and the grand prix ran its distance in dry conditions.

“This is just the beginning. The road is still long. We are working super hard and the team is doing an incredible job,” Antonelli said.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen recovered from a first-lap spin to finish fifth.

He was given a five-second penalty after the race for crossing the white line as he exited the pits, but it did not affect his position.

Separately, he and Russell were cleared by the stewards after minor contact between them.

Leclerc finished sixth but was given a 20-second penalty for leaving the track multiple times on the final lap after he hit a wall and damaged his car.

The penalty dropped him to eighth and promoted team-mate Lewis Hamilton from seventh to sixth.

The key stories in Miami were:

Antonelli took this win despite another poor start – he has now lost places off the line in all four grands prix and both sprint events this season.

His Mercedes was swamped by Leclerc’s fast-starting Ferrari from fourth on one side and Verstappen on the other on the run to the first corner.

Verstappen went to the inside, but ran deep and as he fought to retain the lead, Leclerc squeezed him at Turn Two, and the four-time champion lost control on the kerb, spinning a full 360 degrees with the entire field behind him.

He quickly regained control but had dropped to 10th place and now out of the fight for victory, a blow on a weekend on which Red Bull appeared to return to competitiveness.

That left Leclerc leading from Antonelli and Norris, and the yo-yo fighting began, caused by varying rates of battery charge.

Antonelli took the lead on lap four, only for Leclerc to pass back a lap later, before a safety car was sent out after two separate accidents on lap six.

Isack Hadjar crashed his Red Bull on his own at the final chicane and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine was tipped into a somersault by Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls at the final corner.

The battle at the front continued after the restart, when Norris took second from Antonelli and then quickly passed the Ferrari to take the lead.

Antonelli passed Leclerc a lap later and the Mercedes and McLaren began to edge into a fight on their own.

Norris led confidently, both drivers waiting for rain that was predicted shortly before half-distance, but when it began to look as if it would not come, Mercedes jumped first.

Antonelli was brought in for fresh tyres on lap 24, but Norris waited a further three laps, with McLaren still wary of the weather.

It was the decisive point of the race. Antonelli gained enough time on his fresher tyres to be ahead when Norris came out of the pits.

Although the McLaren sat within a second of the Mercedes for many laps, and Antonelli battled with some gearshift issues and overheating rear tyres, the Mercedes driver held off Norris and eased a couple of seconds clear in the final laps.

“We got undercut, no excuses,” Norris said. “We should have boxed first. As a team we have to be happy. I am gutted to miss out on a win. It was possible today. Didn’t have the pace to get back past him at the end.”

However, McLaren felt they still had margin to get Norris out in front of Antonelli even delaying their stop, had it not been for Norris losing time with a couple of mistakes on the in-lap and a slow pit stop.

Norris was left to rue the pit stop decision. “How did we not win this?” he said over the radio. “We can make it easier for ourselves.”

But this was a strong showing from McLaren, who introduced a major upgrade package this weekend, which brought them right into the fight with Mercedes.

Leclerc was brought in on lap 21 for his stop, and complained over the radio that he had not been consulted.

The decision dropped him down the field and forced him to fight past slower cars. He regained third, but then lost it again to Norris’ team-mate Piastri on the penultimate lap as he began to struggle for grip.

Leclerc then spun on his own on the last lap. He hit the wall, damaged his car and had a puncture, and that meant he lost two further positions into and out of the final corner, as Russell and then Verstappen came past him.

“That’s all on me,” said Leclerc, before his penalty was imposed.

“I am very disappointed in myself. I need to look at whether the energy was different but that is not an excuse. It’s unacceptable.”

Verstappen pitted under the safety car for his fresh tyres, hoping the gamble would pay off. It dropped him to the back, but with some aggressive overtaking and the others pitting in front of him, it put him in the lead mid-race.

But he was never going to hold on with his worn tyres, and he slipped down. Still, fifth was a decent result after his early error, which was followed by some very aggressive racing that prompted complaints from some of his rivals.

Hamilton’s Ferrari was damaged in a first-lap clash with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, who moved up a place to seventh because of Leclerc’s penalty.

The Williams cars of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon took the final points, in ninth and 10th respectively.

1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

2. Lando Norris (McLaren)

3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

4. George Russell (Mercedes)

5. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

7. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

9. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

10. Alex Albon (Williams)

Formula 1 stays in North America for the next race, at Canada’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, in three weeks’ time, from 22-24 May.