Andrea Kimi Antonelli continues to lead the Formula 1 championship with authority, backed by a Mercedes package that appears to be several steps ahead of the competition. Meanwhile, Ferrari once again shows flashes of competitiveness but lacks the horsepower to fully challenge at the front.
Antonelli makes it three wins out of three and delivers yet another victory for Mercedes during a weekend in which rivals applied maximum pressure. McLaren, led by Lando Norris, believed in its chances and leaves Miami with the awareness of having made a significant step forward. Ferrari, for its part, demonstrates solid race pace in the second half of the Grand Prix, but the shortcomings of its power unit are evident, while even Red Bull now emerges as a potential threat.
Antonelli increasingly in control
Andrea Kimi Antonelli is simply outstanding, and Mercedes may soon return to its dominant best as well. This time, the Italian manages the start well, although he briefly locks up—perhaps caught out by Charles Leclerc closing in and by cold tyres after a longer-than-usual wait on the grid. From that moment on, however, Antonelli asserts himself in wheel-to-wheel battles and, most importantly, capitalizes on Mercedes’ winning undercut strategy, overtaking Lando Norris thanks to an excellent out lap.
After the pit stop, the Italian driver controls the race perfectly, holding off pressure from the reigning world champion. His main concerns come from downshift gearbox issues and a temporary drop in tyre performance with 20 laps to go, though he successfully manages overheating. Antonelli makes the difference precisely in tyre management, with a clean driving style that prevents temperatures from rising excessively. The same cannot be said for George Russell, who finishes more than 40 seconds behind, never fully in sync with the W17 and frequently forced into steering corrections—both a cause and a consequence of tyre overheating.
Antonelli therefore consolidates his championship lead, with thanks also going to Mercedes. In race trim, the W17 is a completely different car compared to the Sprint, revitalized by setup changes and cooler temperatures, with the track around 20°C lower. Despite this improvement, the Silver Arrows do not display the same dominance seen in the opening three races but still fight on equal terms at the very front, even without updates. Mercedes clearly possesses a development advantage, with upgrades that rivals took three months to match—yet the Brackley-based team is already preparing its next response for Canada.
McLaren is in the fight
One striking statistic from the Miami Grand Prix is that all seven Mercedes-powered cars that finished the race scored points. Alpine had already shown promising signs, while Williams has taken a step forward with its updates, but the Brixworth power unit clearly plays a decisive role. This makes McLaren the most credible title challenger—provided it continues to refine its energy deployment strategies.
The MCL40’s race management does not yet appear as reactive as that of Mercedes, struggling at times to adapt to changing conditions. This was evident in Saturday qualifying, when, as Andrea Stella himself admitted, gusts of wind “confused” the management software.
Nevertheless, McLaren can take encouragement from the significant progress made with its latest upgrades, with further developments expected in Canada. The hope is to prevent Mercedes from pulling away again once it introduces its own updates. In Miami, the MCL40 appears to have a slight edge over Mercedes in outright pace, although it lacks the same consistency in tyre management. Lando Norris is certainly affected by the many laps spent in dirty air behind Antonelli, but even toward the end of the first stint, when running in clean air, his lap times began to drop. Still, McLaren seems to retain a preference for hotter conditions, a strength that could prove valuable as the season heads into summer.
Ferrari remains the third force
The Maranello team comes close to maximizing its result, but Charles Leclerc ultimately throws away valuable points at the end. After deliberately allowing Oscar Piastri through to benefit from an overtaking mode on the final lap, the Monegasque driver makes a mistake in the first sector, hits the wall, and damages his suspension. He thus finishes eighth in a race where the SF-26 shows both strengths and weaknesses.
Following another strong start, Ferrari fades toward the end of the first stint after the Safety Car restart, struggling with rear tyre overheating. In hindsight, Charles Leclerc’s pit stop also proves premature. Not only does a slow stop cost him position to George Russell, but the early return to the track forces him into traffic, increasing tyre stress and losing ground to the leaders.
Once back in clean air, however, the SF-26 posts competitive lap times on the hard compound. Despite Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris having fresher tyres, Ferrari’s gap remains stable and even begins to shrink toward the end. The picture that emerges is of a car that manages tyres reasonably well but lacks outright pace, largely due to a power unit deficit.
Charles Leclerc’s comments do not go unnoticed, as he speaks of phases where the car is fast and others where “we need to manage things better behind the scenes.” This could be a reference to strategic decisions—already questioned over team radio—or an indication that Ferrari still has work to do in optimizing energy management, another key area where it must close the gap to Mercedes-powered rivals.
Red Bull returns to contention
Max Verstappen reappears in fifth place after a far from perfect race, including a spin at the start and a potential incident near the pit exit line. The decision to pit on lap six under the Safety Car prevents him from matching rivals in the closing stages, as they benefit from much fresher tyres, yet he still shows his usual fighting spirit.
Being among the leading group already exceeds pre-race expectations. With updates to the floor and bodywork, Red Bull has improved across multiple areas, including balance and aerodynamic load, while also benefiting from weight reduction. Aston Martin also hopes for progress, having once again reached the finish line. While its ambitions are clearly higher, regaining reliability is a necessary first step to collect data and improve performance.
Encouraging signs for Formula 1
There is also positive news for the FIA and Formula 1. It remains unclear how much recent regulation changes have contributed, but one thing is certain: when circuits are not overly demanding in terms of energy management, the new generation of cars can deliver exciting racing, at least on Sundays.
Overtaking battles are often decided under braking and through corners, not too differently from the DRS era, but with the key advantage that following closely is now significantly easier. It may be worth enjoying this phase while it lasts, as continuous car development will inevitably increase aerodynamic disturbance. Perhaps the FIA should consider ways to counter this trend, avoiding unnecessary restrictions on solutions that appear relatively harmless.
Leave a Reply