Oscar Piastri, the chief of the Drivers’ Championship, fought his method from fourth place to safe his third consecutive victory of the season on the Formula One Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.
The McLaren driver clinched his fourth win in six races this 12 months, marking his sixth profession triumph.
“I won the race I really wanted to. Yesterday was tough, with qualifying being one of my trickiest sessions of the year, so to come away with the win is an incredible result. The car was amazing today,” Piastri mentioned.
Piastri shortly handed teammate Lando Norris in the beginning, and after a short digital security automotive interval, he wasted no time overtaking Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and later Red Bull’s pole-sitter Max Verstappen.
Sprint race winner Norris, who was concerned in an on-track dispute with Verstappen on the primary lap, dropped to sixth however fought his method again to assert second place.
“It’s never the best feeling to finish second, but the team did an amazing job, so I can’t fault them at all. Oscar drove brilliantly, Max put up a strong fight as always, so it is what it is. I didn’t do a good enough job today, but I’m still happy to be second,” Norris mentioned.
Mercedes’ George Russell took third, benefiting from a pit cease beneath the digital security automotive, securing his fourth podium end in six races.
Four-time defending champion Verstappen needed to accept fourth.
After the race, Red Bull lodged a protest towards Russell, alleging that the Mercedes driver did not gradual beneath yellow flags after Kick-Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto stopped on the monitor.
However, the protest, which, if profitable, may have resulted in a penalty that may have promoted Verstappen to the rostrum, was rejected by the stewards.
Piastri now leads the Drivers’ Championship with 131 factors, 16 forward of Norris, whereas Verstappen is 32 factors behind.
Verstappen bought off to begin however locked up within the first nook, permitting Norris to get alongside. However, the McLaren driver was boxed by the Dutchman, permitting Antonelli, Piastri, and Russell by way of, whereas Verstappen retained his lead.
Norris accused Verstappen of pushing him off the monitor, however the stewards took no motion towards the Red Bull driver.
A quick digital security automotive interval adopted after Jack Doohan of Alpine was stranded on account of a puncture. After the restart, Piastri wasted no time overtaking Antonelli and set his sights on Verstappen.
The Australian ultimately handed the Red Bull driver on lap 14, capitalizing on a mistake made by Verstappen.
Meanwhile, Norris additionally moved into the highest three and made a move on Verstappen on lap 17, solely to lose the place shortly after. However, Norris overtook Verstappen for second place for good on the next lap, whereas Piastri had already opened an eight-second hole.
Verstappen pitted for contemporary tires on lap 27, however he was unfortunate, because the digital security automotive was deployed simply two laps later after Oliver Bearman stopped his Haas on monitor on account of a mechanical concern.
This benefited Piastri and Norris, who pitted and retained their positions in first and second, respectively, in addition to Russell, who returned forward of Verstappen.
“Really happy to come away with third as I’ve been struggling this weekend personally. Well done to McLaren, they were just too far down the road,” Russell mentioned.
Rain had been forecast in the course of the race, but it surely by no means got here, not like within the dash race, the place rainfall led to a chaotic occasion that was delayed and in the end received by Norris.
Alex Albon of Williams had a robust race, ending fifth, whereas Antonelli, who claimed pole for the dash race, completed sixth.
Ferrari took seventh and eighth with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, respectively, whereas Carlos Sainz of Williams and Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull accomplished the highest 10.
Source: www.dailysabah.com