MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Oscar Piastri kept his lead in the Formula 1 championship race with a victory at the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, securing his fourth win out of six races this season.
Piastri has secured three back-to-back victories in Formula 1 for McLaren Racing, teaming up with his teammate Lando Norris to challenge four-time reigning champion Max Verstappen from Red Bull.
Piastri is the first McLaren driver to secure three successive Formula 1 wins in 28 years since Mika Hakkinen achieved this feat by winning the final race of the 1997 season followed by triumphs in the opening two events of the 1998 campaign.
His advantage over Norris in the drivers’ championship increased to 16 points, whereas Verstappen lags behind Piastri by 32 points.
Last year, Norris secured his inaugural Grand Prix win in Miami when he broke Verstappen’s two-year winning run at the circuit near Hard Rock Stadium. Additionally, Norris also
claimed victory in the sprint race on Saturday
— Piastri was dominant but lost out due to a late safety car —
Verstappen secured the top spot during qualifying.
Verstappen, who announced the
the birth of his first child early Friday morning,
has been determined to disprove the myth that fatherhood would make him a more conservative driver. It was evident as he darted away at the start and then aggressively held off Norris’ challenge for the lead.
Red Bull and McLaren were neck and neck with Norris attempting to get past the Dutch driver. However, Norris hit trouble when he went off course and dropped four positions as a result. According to Norris, Verstappen pushed him wide, leaving him little choice except to steer clear of crashing into the barrier. Nevertheless, Formula 1 officials did not penalize Verstappen for his actions.
What can I say? Whether I hold back or push forward, people grumble either way,” Norris stated. “There’s no winning this game. It simply comes down to Max; it’s about crashing or letting them through.
Norris recuperated and made his way back up front, though this happened after Piastri seized control from Verstappen during lap 14 out of 57. McLaren has opted to let Piastri and Norris compete fairly against one another without imposing team instructions, giving Norris permission to contest with his Australian teammate for the win.
As the final laps approached, Norris managed to reduce the distance between himself and Piastري, though he couldn’t quite seize first place and ended up with second position in McLaren’s 1-2 victory. Meanwhile, they maintained an almost 40-second lead over Mercedes’ driver Russell, who took home third spot.
Verstappen faded to fourth.
It’s simply amazing how much effort has been put into this,” Piastri remarked about McLaren. “Two years back, during the event in Miami, we were truly the least speedy team around. We ended up being lapped twice then. Now, having clinched victory at the Grand Prix with more than 35-second lead over the third-place finisher showcases an extraordinary outcome thanks to everyone involved.
Alex Albon from Williams finished in fifth place, Kimi Antonelli driving for Mercedes came in sixth, and Charles Leclerc placed seventh following Ferrari instructing Lewis Hamilton to yield his spot to his teammate during the final stages of the race. Lewis Hamilton ended up in eighth place.
Carlos Sainz Jr. finished ninth with Williams, while Yuki Tsunoda came in tenth for Red Bull.
Doohan in doubt
During the first lap, Jack Doohan collided with another vehicle and subsequently crashed during the second lap—a performance that isn’t likely to silence those speculating he might be close to losing his position at Alpine to Franco Colapinto as a rookie.
Media reports from Argentina suggest that Colapinto might take over for Doohan at the upcoming Formula 1 race in Italy later this month. However, Alpine Team Principal Olivier Boullier refuted these claims during the Miami Grand Prix weekend, stating that as things stand now, the Australian driver is expected to remain in his position when the races move to Imola.
I believe it was an Argentine sponsor speaking behind the camera about their thoughts on Franco and when he might get into the car. Many people in Argentina probably want to see him driving this Sunday,” Oakes commented regarding the speculations. “Our team has remained quite transparent that such talk is merely background chatter. Jack should keep up his strong performance. However, it’s only natural for rumors to circulate.
“As it is today, Jack is our driver along with Pierre (Gasly),” he continued. “We’ve been pretty clear on that. We always evaluate, but today that is the case.”
Doohan failed to complete two laps on Sunday and ended up finishing last, continuing his streak of not scoring any points this season across six races. His highest placement so far was 13th place at the Chinese Grand Prix.
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AP auto racing:
https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Jenna Fryer, from The Associated Press
