Oscar Piastri has claimed his second podium in a row as McLaren showed improved performance at the Miami Grand Prix, but the Australian still isn’t happy with F1’s new regulations.
Piastri had a strong start to Monday morning’s race (AEST), moving from seventh to fourth on a chaotic opening lap before being overtaken by George Russell a couple of laps later.
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After a pit stop he began making his way through the field, overtaking Max Verstappen before passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on the final lap of the race to finish third in a strong outing.
Leclerc spun out after the overtake and appeared to encounter issues with his Ferrari, veering off the track and allowing Russell and Verstappen to pass him in the dying stages.
Several hours after the race finished, the stewards handed down a 20-second time penalty to Charles Leclerc for leaving the track on several occasions “without a justifiable reason” on the final lap.
The penalty demotes Leclerc from sixth to eighth, rubbing salt into the wound after he dropped from a podium position to sixth on the final lap.
Verstappen also received a five-second penalty for crossing the pit exit line, but he remains P5.
Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli won the race from pole position to claim his third victory in a row following success in Japan and China, giving him a 20-point lead in the standings over teammate Russell.
Antonelli’s win was aided by an undercut pit stop that enabled him to pass world champion Lando Norris midway through the race.
With Norris expressing disappointment over his team’s pit-stop strategy, Antonelli agreed that coming in at “just the right moment” had been “the key” to his win.
“When I came out, I had no traffic and I pushed,” he said.
“Now I am feeling stronger and stronger all the time and I have more control.”
While it was a successful double podium for McLaren, Piastri did not seem overly pleased in the cooldown room, criticising the inability for cars to defend from overtakes under the new regulations.
“See, watch this. I overtake him, sweet. Nothing I could do.” Piastri said shaking his head.
“Man, trying to defend in these cars … You look and they’re half a second behind but catching you so fast.”
“That was a fascinating debrief,” commentator David Croft said on Kayo Sports after hearing Piastri’s comments.
It’s not the first time Piastri has had a subtle dig at the new regulations.
After a podium finish in China, Piastri told Leclerc “I see what you mean about the mushroom” after the Ferrari driver likened the ability to overtake to the mushroom boost in Mario Kart.
Watch Oscar Piastri’s cooldown room comments in the video at the top of this article
Speaking after the race, Piastri praised his team after he moved up to sixth in the drivers championship, bouncing back after mechanical issues meant he didn’t race in Australia or China.
“It’s not been the most straightforward of weekends. Qualifying yesterday was a bit messy for both of us.
“The pace seemed more encouraging today. Had to make a few overtakes, the end of the race was a pretty late charge. Very tricky around here in these conditions. Thanks to the team, clearly we’re a step closer in performance once again, nice to see.
This weekend we showed if we get track position we can hang on to things. We were close in Japan, taken a step forward and hopefully we can take a step forward in Canada.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said: “I think Mercedes still have a bit of an advantage on us, but it’s good to be there and the championship is still very on.”
Post-race David Croft said: “Lando Norris still looks pretty miffed with the outcome of that race” while Martin Brundle described the race as “one that got away” for McLaren and Norris.
Piastri: ‘Not much has changed’ with F1 rule tweaks
The drivers were asked about the regulations, which were tweaked for the race in Miami to reduce the maximum battery recharge limit in qualifying from 8MJ to 7MJ.
In races, the maximum power available through the Boost in race conditions is now capped at+150 kW.
The changes were made following backlash from drivers and Ollie Bearman’s terrifying crash in Japan that highlighted the dangers of closing speeds.
“Reducing the harvest in qualifying has helped a bit. It’s not fixed all the problems but it’s helping,” Piastri said in the post-race press conference.
“The races are exactly the same. Today was my first proper experience of overtaking people and having to defend… it’s pretty crazy, to be honest.”
He said a driver was “one second behind me and managed to overtake me by the end of that straight”.
“It’s a bit random, all the closing speeds are huge,” Piastri said.
“Trying to anticipate that as the defending driver is incredibly tough to do.
“I wasn’t that pleased with one the moves George did but I found myself almost doing the same move five laps later, just because the closing speed is enormous.
“From that side of things, not much has changed. Some changes in the future are still needed for sure.”
Miami Grand Prix results
1) Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
2) Lando Norris, McLaren
3) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
4) George Russell, Mercedes
5) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
6) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
7) Franco Colapinto, Alpine
8) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
9) Carlos Sainz, Williams
10) Alex Albon, Williams
