Miami GP Review: Kimi Antonelli Takes Third Victory In A Row

Here's our Miami GP review after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli took a third straight Grand Prix victory to extend his championship lead. 

Sunday saw another impressive drive from 19-year-old Italian Antonelli, who held off defending world champions Lando Norris in a much-improved McLaren.

Antonelli now leads the championship by 20 points from teammate George Russell, who finished fourth behind the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri.

Miami GP Review

A dramatic start saw pole-sitter Antonelli lose positions off the line. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc led after Max Verstappen's spin into turn two.

Leclerc, Antonelli and Norris then battled for the lead, with this season's characteristic "yo-yo" racing, due to battery deployment and recharging, featuring heavily despite technical changes for Miami.

Lap six saw a safety car deployed after two separate crashes for Red Bull's Isack Hadjar and Alpine's Pierre Gasly. Norris led from the restart but lost out to Antonelli during the pit stops.

Mercedes brought the Italian in on lap 24, a lap earlier than Norris, with the risk of rain delaying some teams. The undercut gave Antonelli track position, allowing him to fend off Norris until the chequered flag.

A slow stop also harmed Norris, but the heavily upgraded McLaren looked like a far better car this weekend after taking pole and victory in the sprint race.

Leclerc's race fell apart late on, with a poorly-timed stop dropping him into traffic. Then, a final lap spin put him into the wall, which brought a 20-second penalty for repeated corner cutting as he attempted to drag his damaged car to the finish. This dropped Leclerc to eighth, promoting Lewis Hamilton to sixth.

Verstappen recovered to fifth after his early spin, while Alpine's Franco Colapinto enjoyed a best-ever result in F1 to take seventh. Williams duo Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon rounded out the points in a much-improved weekend for the team.

Antonelli's third successive win sees him continue to lead the drivers' standings, as the top performer so far this season.