MOTORSPORT – McLaren has somewhat of a checkered history when it comes to its relationship with the Miami circuit. It was just two years ago that both Landon Norris and Oscar Piastri both finished in the bottom five, over a minute and a half behind the winning car. At the time, it felt like somewhat of a low point in its recent history.
Conversely, last year’s race in Miami delivered Norris’ first ever win and, on reflection, was seen as the turning point for their fortunes. They would go on to achieve another five victories in 2024 and secure their first championship since 1998.
Given that recent history and their four victories from the first five races this season, it was fair to assume that expectations for this race weekend were more aligned with Miami 2024. Given the way the season has started, it is always tough for a team upfront to carry such a weight of expectation and only adds to the pressure on drivers.
You can play your chances down as much as you like in the media. Ultimately, however, McLaren has consistently shown this year that they have the fastest race car, despite some heroic efforts from Max Verstappen in particular, most notably his ability to outperform in qualifying.
So, if McLaren were looking to dampen fan enthusiasm for their championship prospects in 2025, they did a pretty poor job of it over the weekend. They took first and second place in both the sprint and feature race. In the case of Sunday’s race, both cars took the chequered over 35 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, regularly posting lap times a full one second ahead of their closest competitors. It felt like a new level of dominance.
Qualifying would be one area where the McLaren will seek improvement, but when you are in the hands of the 2025 papaya rocket ship that seems to matter little, as any shortcomings in that area will be more than compensated for over race distance. This was something that Verstappen found out on race day. With the Dutchman having qualified on pole, there were the usual shenanigans at the first corner, again with Lando Norris, although on this occasion the stewards felt it was all perfectly legal. Norris fell back to fifth whilst trying to avoid the wide-elbowed Red Bull. Piastri, meanwhile, had started fourth and made light work of Antonelli to reach Verstappen’s gearbox by the early stages. Both Piastri and Norris managed to overtake Verstappen by lap 17, but not before several laps of highly entertaining and skillful defense and attack duels. It was a brave but ultimately futile effort from the Red Bull, as once both McLaren cars were clear, they set off into the distance.
Elsewhere, there was plenty of excitement and talking points to keep fans entertained for the rest of the race, not least for Ferrari. Leaving aside the fact that Italian team have far loftier ambitions than fighting for the lower points positions, they seemed to spend rather a lot of time in the race fighting amongst themselves. Both drivers were on different tyre strategies, with Hamilton on fresher rubber looking to get ahead of his teammate to try and chase the Mercedes of Antonelli ahead. It seemed to take an age to decide that Hamilton should be let through, a point that Hamilton made quite pointedly over the team radio. Whilst he made some progress in closing the gap to Mercedes, Hamilton was asked to give the place back a few laps later. Nether driver was happy, but it is hard to know how much of that was driven by perceived team indecision and strategy management or simply the fact that the car is still not performing to expectations.
Conversely, there was optimism for Williams this weekend, as they demonstrated their ability to compete with both the Mercedes and Ferraris. Alex Albon in particular shone on Sunday finishing a credible fifth, whilst Sainz finished ninth and could have been higher with a better-timed safety car. Although still a way off from their mid-1990s heyday, it is a team on the up and a far cry from where they have been in recent years.
Equally, Mercedes will have more room for optimism, with George Russell’s fourth podium of the year in Miami, having never finished lower than fifth in the main race this season. Kimi Antonelli is learning quicky as a rookie and it is only a matter of time before he gets on the podium.
Finally, a word for the Miami race itself. It was an exceptional weekend of racing. The weather added plenty of unpredictability to the sprint race on Saturday, whist Sunday delivered a cocktail of great racing, entertainment, some sharp politics played out over team radios and that’s before the mention of the life-sized lego cars which were used for the drivers’ parade. They went down a treat with fans and drivers alike, to the extent that there were one or two drivers who may have preferred to stick with the lego cars for the race.
F1 takes a break for a week before the start of a very busy European stretch, starting with Imola on May 18.
* Laurence Jones is senior manager, Marketing and Communications, Bahrain International Circuit
l.jones@bic.com.bh
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