Oscar Piastri claimed his fourth win of the season and increased his lead in the drivers’ standings. Lando Norris completed the 1-2 on a Sunday of absolute dominance for the two McLarens. George Russell capitalized on the Virtual Safety Car caused by Oliver Bearman’s retirement and managed to secure third place. Behind him was a Max Verstappen who tried everything to defend himself from the two papayas, but had to yield with a car not up to the challenge. A promising performance from Williams, which for long stretches of the race was even faster than Ferrari. Below is the analysis of race pace from the Miami GP, highlighting the major differences between the cars.
McLaren’s Dominance
Looking at the charts, we can immediately notice the overwhelming supremacy of the British team, which completely dominated the race. Once in clean air after passing Max Verstappen, both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris began lapping at times their rivals simply couldn’t match. In the final part of the race, the British driver was gaining several tenths per lap on the Australian, but the time lost fighting Max cost him a possible victory. Oscar Piastri is beginning to open up an interesting gap in the drivers’ championship and has reached the maturity needed to manage races from the front without being caught.
The midfield lapped at very similar times throughout the race. The gap to the two McLaren drivers is stark and proves the car’s total superiority. For the first time this season, we witnessed such a performance. The reasons could be related to the track layout, which was tricky for all others, or the high temperatures that increased tire wear. The MCL39 is the best car on the grid in terms of degradation, as seen in the second stint on the white (hard) tire, where the lap times of the two drivers were unreachable for everyone else.
Ferrari was even behind Williams in terms of pure pace. The result of the Miami race should prompt deep reflection among the engineers in Maranello, and the updates arriving in Imola and Barcelona will be crucial for the rest of the season. Fred Vasseur has somewhat resigned himself, stating that “McLaren was on another planet in the race.” In previous rounds, the Red team struggled to come alive in qualifying but then found the pace to do better in the race. In the first stint here in Miami, however, they were clearly struggling even to match the pace of the Williams.
The Team Comparison
In past Grands Prix, we were talking about a 0.2–0.3 second gap between McLaren and the other top teams. What we saw yesterday, however, was a much larger gap. We’re talking about 0.7–0.8 seconds per lap, which is a mountain to climb in a season where preparing next year’s car will also be key. The regulation change expected for Barcelona might alter some scenarios, but it won’t be enough to cover such a large gap.
This chart makes the gap between the top two and the rest of the field even more evident. Another noteworthy point is the deep crisis at Aston Martin, which is currently the slowest car on the grid. The British team might decide to bring its final updates at the upcoming European races and then focus entirely on the 2026 car. Alpine also took a step back this weekend, while Haas and Racing Bulls continue to battle for the final points positions.
The Second Stint of the Race
Beyond the Miami race pace analysis, let’s also take a look at how the entire GP unfolded. The first part was marked by the battle between Verstappen and the two McLarens, which began with the Dutchman forcing Norris off in Turn 2 on the first lap. The two papaya drivers had to fight hard for position, losing quite a bit of time in the battle with the Dutchman, which means their final gap could have been even greater. The central phase of pit stops partially livened up the race, especially thanks to the Virtual Safety Car, which altered the strategies of drivers who hadn’t stopped yet.
The second stint, however, saw all positions completely frozen. The only exception was the two position swaps between the Ferrari drivers who were chasing Antonelli. In fact, in the final laps of the Grand Prix, there were no overtakes or even battles. This scenario resulted from the significant gaps between all the drivers. The track layout encourages overtaking and battles thanks to its long straights and DRS zones, but it’s a type of circuit that emphasizes car potential and creates clear distinctions between teams.
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