Miami - Race

The Miami Grand Prix just finished and what a race it was. It will be remembered for a long time, with a brand new winner, a three-team podium, and a safety car that changed everything. All those who missed it maybe assuming that it wouldn't be too interesting were surely regretting their decision as soon as they caught a glimpse of the results.

Daniel Ricciardo, who already wasn't too pleased with his performance in yesterday's qualifying, began the race not from 17th but 20th, after a 3-place grid drop for overtaking under the safety car during the Chinese Grand Prix. The shakeup he caused at the bottom of the grid was the only change in order. 

The fight for points and positions began as soon as the lights went out. Sainz temporarily overtook his teammate but their positions reversed after Perez's late-breaking sent him flying in front of Sainz's car and almost into the Red Bull of his teammate. Piastri, who started 6th, took advantage of the mess in front and jumped in front of Sainz and Perez, finding himself at P3.  

During the first laps, the two Alpines battled wheel to wheel, dangerously close to making contact. Piastri tried to close in on Leclerc and managed to do so, overtaking him by lap 4. He was by far the biggest winner of the first laps, gaining four places in the span of a few minutes. Russel and Bottas found themselves on the other side of the spectrum as they both lost three places.  

Hamilton also went wheel to wheel, once again with a Haas, but this time with that of Hulkenberg, not Magnussen. The British and German drivers swapped positions for a while, until lap 10 when Hamilton moved past Hulkenberg for good. Soon after, Russel also managed to find his way past the Haas. 

The first wave of put stops brought significant changes to the order of the grid. Perez boxed rather quickly, pushing Norris to fifth, and the fact Leclerc also came into the pit put him in 4th. There, desperate for a good result, Norris chased the Ferrari of Sainz. He set fastest lap after fastest lap, while trying to catch up to the Spaniard. Meanwhile, Leclerc, who landed behind Norris and between the two Mercedes, passed Hamilton at lap 21, finding himself with a gap to the second British driver, this time the one driving for McLaren. 

The first shakeup of the race came when Verstappen hit a cone at the chicane, pushing it onto the middle of the track. This brought out a virtual safety car at lap 23, which ended rather quickly but managed to benefit a few drivers like Ocon, Alonso, and Magnussen, who were in the perfect place on the track to pit underneath it. 

Verstappen pitted at lap 24 while Sainz and Piastri both drove down the pit lane at lap 28, once again shaking up the order of the front of the grid. The three were quite unlucky as they changed their tires right before a yellow flag appeared in sector one. It was caused by Sargeant and Magnussen making contact and quickly followed by a safety car. While the Haas was able to rejoin the other drivers on track, the Williams hit the wall and was consequently out of the race. Magnussen later received a 10-second penalty for causing the collision, his fifth of the weekend. 

Multiple cars pitted under the safety car, greatly benefitting from the advantage. One of the drivers who benefitted most was Norris who managed to turn his provisional lead into a real one. The safety car at first picked up the wrong car, the one of Verstappen, but quickly found its way back to the actual race leader. It ended at the beginning of lap 33, causing an immediate fight on the restart. Norris managed to hold onto the race lead, despite Verstappen's best efforts to get back to the front.

While Norris, Verstappen, and Leclerc fought for the race win, Sainz tried to overtake Piastri. The fight turned slightly aggressive as Sainz claimed that the McLaren pushed him off the track and should be given a penalty unless he decides to give him back the position. No action from the stewards was taken against Piastri. Sainz managed to overtake the McLaren by lap 40, although the two cars made some contact, which resulted in the McLaren having significant wing damage. Piastri had no choice but to drive into the pits for a front wing change, which effectively knocked him out of the fight for points. 

Norris, the race leader, set fastest lap after fastest lap, creating a few-second gap between himself and Verstappen. His times were only beaten by his own teammate who, with fresh tires and a lot of anger, soared through the track and slowly climbed his way up the field.

On his 110th start, Lando Norris made history as the second non-Red Bull winner in the last two seasons and joined the glorious club of Formula One race winners. His perfectly executed strategy earned him a win and a 7-second lead over Verstappen, as well as the deserved title of driver of the day. Leclerc took the last step of the podium while Piastri ended the race with the fastest lap of all drivers. Overall, Miami was as surprising as it was exciting, and after it ended, there is only one thing to be said; 

Congratulations Lando, this one was well deserved. 

Order of the grid

1. Lando Norris

2. Max Verstappen

3. Charles Leclerc

4. Sergio Perez

5. Carlos Sainz

6. Lewis Hamilton

7. Yuki Tsunoda

8. George Russel

9. Fernando Alonso

10. Esteban Ocon

11. Nico Hulkenberg

12. Pierre Gasly

13. Oscar Piastri 

14. Zhou Guanyu

15. Daniel Ricciardo

16. Valtteri Bottas

17. Lance Stroll 

18. Alex Albon

19. Kevin Magnussen

DNF Logan Sargeant