Antonelli Beats Norris to Win the Miami Grand Prix

Due to rainstorms being forecast for the planned start, it was confirmed ahead of the event that the race would start 3 hours earlier. While rain had already fallen on Sunday morning, the showers had passed - just in time!

Kimi Antonelli lined up in pole position for the third consecutive time. Isack Hadjar would start the race from the pit lane after being disqualified from Saturday's qualifying session for changes being made to his car under parc ferme conditions.

The tire blankets came off and all cars, except Hadjar who was starting on hards, were going to set off on the yellow-walled medium tire. There was a risk of rain which made the strategy an uneasy one for those working in the pits and back at the factories.

The five reds lights went out and Antonelli found himself next to Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc on either side of him. The Mercedes locked up going into Turn 1. Verstappen did the same and made contact with the Monegasque, and then spun 360 degrees - but managed to keep it from going into the wall, and any other car!

All this early drama put Leclerc into the lead ahead of the young Italian and the two McLaren's. Further back, Lewis Hamilton made contact with Franco Colapinto at Turn 11, resulting in some damage to the car.

Lap 3 came and George Russell had picked off Oscar Piastri for fourth place. After his spin, Verstappen was trying to make ground. One lap later, Antonelli made a move past Leclerc for the race lead. On the following lap, Leclerc managed to find his way back past the Silver Arrow, but his Ferrari teammate was losing time due to his first lap contact with Colapinto.

Antonelli fell back behind Norris who had climbed up to second. It wasn't long until our first DNF came. Hadjar hit the wall at Turn 14 - and he slammed his steering wheel is clear frustration. Moments later, a separate incident occurred between Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson. The Alpine had been flipped over following contact with the Racing Bull. The Safety Car was deployed as the cars were cleared while Lawson headed into the pits to retire his car. Nico Hulkenberg had also come into the pits.

The Safety Car meant that it might be a good time to change the tyres. One who opted in was Verstappen - which dropped him down to 16th. Some drivers were being warned that some rain was due in around 20 minutes.

Leclerc was going to lead the pack back into full race conditions after it was confirmed the Safety Car was returning to the pits. He made a good start and slightly behind him, Piastri got past Russell for P4.

Shortly, it was all change at the front when Norris stole the lead from Leclerc, leaving him to defend P2 from Antonelli. A few laps later, Piastri was scrapping with the Ferrari driver.

Drivers were being warned about the shower which was expected in a few laps' time. Russell came into the pits on Lap 21 to change to a set of hard tyres. Ferrari responded which bringing Leclerc in too. After a slow stop, he came out behind Russell.

Light rain was reported on the track by a few drivers, but it was too light for intermediate tyres to be needed. The championship leader, on Lap 27, pitted for hard tyres - and emerged behind Verstappen and Hamilton. Lando Norris pitted one lap later and ended up behind Antonelli.

Cadillac's first home race wasn't one to remember, especially when Valtteri Bottas was handed a drive-through penalty as a result of speeding in the pit lane.

It wasn't the news Mercedes wanted to hear however, when Antonelli came onto the radio to report a possible issue with his gearbox. Norris was catching up to him. But that wasn't the only McLaren v Mercedes battle going on! Piastri and Russell were also having a scrap, and it was the former who took P5 going into the first corner.

By Lap 40, the gap between the top 2 was now under a second. Verstappen was in third, and Leclerc was in a lonely fourth, with the battle between Piastri and Russell still going on.

On Lap 47, Leclerc had caught up to Verstappen and took P3 going into T1. Verstappen initially retook the position, but he could not defend from Leclerc who had fresher tyres. This then allowed Piastri to catch up to the Dutchman, sweeping past him. The Aussie then caught up to Leclerc and was piling a lot of pressure on him. And it wasn't long until Piastri took the last spot on the podium.

The drama didn't stop there! Leclerc spun and tapped the wall. The Ferrari continued, but it wasn't long until he had Russell and Verstappen on his tail.

Norris was being told to cool off due to a wing problem, which had allowed Antonelli to further his lead from the current World Champion. The young Silver Arrow crossed the line to take his third consecutive win - and extending his lead to 20 points.

It was a double McLaren podium for the first time in 2026, with Norris in second and Piastri just behind him. Looking behind, the battle between Leclerc, Russell and Verstappen was far from over. The Briton got past for fourth place, and Verstappen, on the line, also managed to pip the Ferrari driver to 5th place.

These 3 drivers would all have to go to the stewards after the race for separate instances. Verstappen was given a 5-second penalty for crossing the line at the pit exit. And Leclerc's day went from bad to worse when he was given a penalty which was converted into 20 seconds being added to his race time. This dropped him down from sixth to eighth.

Hamilton and Colapinto moved into sixth and seventh respectably, and the two Williams drivers - Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon - rounded out the top 10 drivers at the Hard Rock Stadium circuit.

Our race winner had a few words to say: "The start was not as bad as yesterday – it was a little bit better. I didn’t expect Charles to brake that early, so to avoid him I locked up. I was a bit lucky with what happened in Turn 2. I did a little mistake with the energy management, trying to overtake Charles, then I lost a place to Lando. But then the pace was strong, I was able to stay close, and then the team did a great strategy. We did a massive undercut, and we managed to bring it home, even though it was not easy."

We have another break now until F1 makes it's return to Canada - a circuit I quite like! Let's see if Antonelli can make it 4 in a row. Will we get a new season winner? Enjoy the break, and I will be back for my next race report in a few weeks' time!