Papaya Podiums Are Back

After a rocky start to the season for the McLaren team, was their race in Miami their comeback?

(Image credit to @mclarenf1 on Instagram)

Having a great record of wins at the Miami track, including Norris’ first win in 2024 and Piastri’s iconic win last season, the McLaren team needed a good race to prove themselves. After not the best start to the season with the new regulations, McLaren was bringing upgrades to the fourth round of the season. Would this help to improve their performance?

Sprint Saturday

After Norris qualified on pole, with Piastri slotting into third, both got a great start leading into the first corner. A bad start from the Championship leader Kimi Antonelli allowed for Piastri to get through to second place. Norris led the rest of the way to the finish line taking away his first win of the season, ending the Mercedes winning streak, with Piastri coming in second place, bringing back the iconic 1-2 finishes which we saw lots of last season. The podium was completed by Charles Leclerc, who took advantage of the bad start of the Mercedes and maintained the third position until the chequered flag.

Qualifying

Early into Q1, Verstappen set an early benchmark with Norris only 0.084 seconds behind. A few shaky moments for the Australian left him far down the order as the time ticked down, luckily for him Lindblad was unable to find the time to knock him out, so the McLaren made it into Q2. 

During Q2, Norris struggled with a scary snap which ultimately led him to have to abandon the lap. Towards the end of the session he found himself down in P9, needing some improvement to secure himself safely into Q3. He managed to find some time and left Q2 in an underwhelming P7, it was later confirmed by the team that he was impacted by an issue with his boost. His teammate had better luck than the previous session and after an uneventful Q2 he finished in P4 only two tenths of the top pace.

Both drivers needed Q3 to be more promising to ensure a good start for the following day. After Antonelli had a brilliant lap outshining the whole grid, Norris finished the session in P3, securing a second row start, whilst Piastri only managed to get a P7 leaving room for improvement.

Race Day

The race start was brought three hours earlier due to forecast heavy rainstorms later that day. Rain had already fallen that Sunday morning, luckily it had cleared up by the new start time.

After a dramatic start for the front runners, including locks up into the first corner from Antonelli and Verstappen, then followed by a 360 spin by the Dutch driver which was luckily saved, saw Piastri make up three places, putting him just outside of the podium position within the first lap. By Lap 3, Russell had caught up to the back of the car 81, putting pressure on for fourth place. Moments before the Red Bull driver, Hadjar, found himself in the wall which ultimately brought out a safety car, Norris managed to get past the Italian driver up into second place.

Shortly after Lap 11, the British driver got past Leclerc, who a couple of laps later would also lose a place to Antonelli, putting himself into the lead of the race. He continued his lead as the Mercedes driver came into pit on Lap 27, forcing Norris to pit the following lap. Due to his tires not being up to temperature, he lost a place to Antonelli as Verstappen continued into first place following Piastri pitting into seventh place ahead of Hamilton. Verstappen's lead didn't last long as a couple of laps later both the Championship leader and the reigning World Champion passed the Red Bull who was running 20 laps old tires. This left Verstappen vulnerable to both Leclerc and Piastri, who would both take advantage of the situation.

Norris continued to put pressure on the Mercedes but sitting in dirty air meant that he was unable to get past and would finish the race in second place, taking home crucial 18 points. 

As the laps ticked down, the other McLaren driver managed to pass the Ferrari, who on the final lap of the race spun, managing to save it but would receive a 20 second time penalty by the FIA.

The race finished with the Mercedes #12, Kimi Antonelli in first place, followed by the McLaren #1, Lando Norris and to finish off the podium McLaren #81, Oscar Piastri bringing back the iconic double podiums which we were treated to lots last season.

Article written by Skyla Crook