Formula One returns stateside for sixth round of the 2024 world championship, with its third visit to sunny Florida and the Miami Grand Prix. Join in on the conversation with The Roar’s live coverage from 6am (AEST).
A 5.4km concrete jungle, with high-speed corners and peril at every turn, should present itself as a recipe for a great race. However, the Miami Grand Prix has lacked that since its debut on the calendar in 2022.
It wasn’t a dull 57 laps for reigning race winner Max Verstappen in 2023, with the world champion having charged from ninth on the grid to victory and firing a warning shot against teammate Sergio Perez.
Red Bull once again look well placed, coming off the back of the Sprint race which was won by Verstappen ahead of Charles Leclerc – whose Ferrari is sporting a one-off special livery with hints of blue over the traditional red.
Among the many incidents in the Sprint were both Aston Martins consigned to the rear, Lando Norris crashing out on the opening lap and Kevin Magnussen being hit with multiple time-penalties. There was also a standout result for Daniel Ricciardo, who finished fourth, though he will be starting last off the back of a Q1 elimination and having a three-place grid penalty from China to serve.
Both Aussies fared well in the Sprint, with Oscar Piastri rounding out the top six as well as being the sole McLaren in the points.
Verstappen remains unbeaten in qualifying for 2024, with a seventh successive pole going back to the end of last year. He’ll have both Ferraris, led by Leclerc, lining up behind him and teammate Perez in fourth.
McLaren on the third row again are poised to lead the best of the rest, ahead of both Mercedes cars on the fourth row. Nico Hülkenberg in eighth leads what should be an intriguing battle for the remainder of the points paying positions.
Pirelli have made the same compounds of tyre as the previous race in China, available for this weekend. The prediction from the manufacturer is that this will likely be a one-stop race and the medium and hard compounds favoured.
Will it be another Max masterclass in Miami, with a fifth win of 2024 beckoning? Or can some street-circuit shenanigans bring someone else to the fore?
No one has won the Miami Grand Prix from pole position yet.
Lights out: 6am (AEST)
Venue: Miami International Autodrome, Miami
TV: Fox Sports
Streaming: Kayo Sports
2023 winner: Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Grid
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), 5. Lando Norris (McLaren), 6. Oscar Piastri (McLaren), 7. George Russell (Mercedes), 8. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 9. Nico Hülkenberg (Haas), 10. Yuki Tsunoda (RB), 11. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), 12. Pierre Gasly (Alpine), 13. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 14. Alexander Albon (Williams), 15. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), 16. Valtteri Bottas (Sauber), 17. Logan Sargeant (Williams), 18. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), 19. Guanyu Zhou (Sauber), 20. Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Annoyed I missed the race live. My takes. Carlos whinging about nothing and then takes out Piastri. Hamilton whining as usual whilst others get on with the job. Max classy in defeat. Lando has soooooooo many friends. Red Bull car dominance a myth. Max is a genius, it was never like this during the Mercedes years. Sky Sports are utterly obsessed with Hamilton and their coverage is hampered because of it. Ocon superb and Alpine scoring points frequently by the end of the season once the weight comes down. RB looking good and Aston Martin awful. Crash Bandicoot Albon at it again and Logan should be off driving buses. Bring on Italia!!!!!
Blink
Roar Rookie
The other drivers seemed as happy as Norris that he won including Verstappen who seemed very happy to come second. And Sainz copped a 5sec penalty for ruining Piastris race, which cost him a place. That will rile him even more. Piastri gets the full updates next race. We'll have to see but McLaren are close to or equivalent to Ferrari pace now if not Red Bull. All the drivers struggled in Miami so we won't know until next race or more if things have changed.
andrew
Roar Rookie
I was disappointed that Oscar couldn't finish in the points, still, that's racing. Glad to see Norris finally win, Oscar's next cab off the rank. :thumbup:
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lando Norris is at last a race winner! 110 races in the making, he's finally done it. Thank you as well for tuning in on this Monday morning for the Miami Grand Prix. Pleasure to have your company again here on The Roar. We'll back on Sunday May 19 at 11pm AEST for the Emilia-Romagna GP from Imola. Until then it's bye for now.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Thoughts on that one then Roarers?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
------DRIVER'S------ 136 - Max Verstappen 101 - Sergio Perez 98 -- Charles Leclerc 85 -- Carlos Sainz 83 -- Lando Norris 41 -- Oscar Piastri 37 -- George Russell 33 -- Fernando Alonso 27 -- Lewis Hamilton 14 -- Yuki Tsunoda 9 --- Lance Stroll 6 --- Oliver Bearman 6 --- Nico Hülkenberg 5 --- Daniel Ricciardo 1 --- Esteban Ocon 1 --- Kevin Magnussen 0 --- Alexander Albon 0 --- Guanyu Zhou 0 --- Pierre Gasly 0 --- Valtteri Bottas 0 --- Logan Sargeant
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-----CONSTRUCTOR'S----- 237 - Red Bull Racing 189 - Ferrari 124 - McLaren Mercedes 64 -- Mercedes AMG 42 -- Aston Martin 19 -- RB Honda 7 --- Haas Ferrari 1 --- Alpine 0 --- Williams Mercedes 0 --- Sauber
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT Lando Norris is at last a race winner in Formula One, as the 24-year old McLaren claimed a maiden victory at the Miami Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. Starting fifth, the Briton capitalised on a mid-race Safety Car to take his one and only pit-stop and maintain the lead he inherited when Verstappen pitted on Lap 24. The incident involved Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant, who was punted out of his home race by the Haas driver – triggering the Safety Car to allow McLaren to safely pit and maintain the lead. Ultimately an 8-lap difference in their tyres, gave Norris the advantage he needed to pull out a 7.6-second gap over the reigning world champion to take this famous win. At the start, Verstappen led away as Leclerc was caught off-side by Sergio Perez – who was investigated and cleared of a jump start. Perez locked up into Turn 1, putting Leclerc on the back-foot with Carlos Sainz taking benefitting temporarily. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri was up into third at the end of the first lap, behind Leclerc. With the McLarens battling with the Ferraris in the early phase of the race. The race though unravelled for Piastri in the second half, after the Safety Car with the Aussie ultimately finishing outside of the top ten. He had pitted with Sainz on Lap 28 just before the race was neutralised, cycling out in fourth between the Ferraris. Piastri’s pace relative to Sainz was weaker in the second stint, though the McLaren driver defended against the Ferrari maturely. Before on Lap 40 where into Turn 17 the Spaniard forced his way past with some contact damaging the Aussie’s front-wing. An additional pit-stop for a new front-wing meant that Piastri was out of points contention, with the incident to be investigated by the stewards after the race. Perez in the sister Red Bull appeared absent pace wise, as he held off Lewis Hamilton for fifth on an alternative strategy. Both Mercedes finishing in the points – split by Yuki Tsunoda in another points finish for RB. A scrap between former teammates Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, entertained in the final laps before the Aston Martin claimed ninth ahead of the Alpine. The Frenchman scoring the embattled French team’s first points of the season as well. Lance Stroll was hit with a 10-second time penalty late in the piece, for going off track at Turn 1 and gaining an advantage in his fight with Alex Albon. The Canadian demoted to seventeenth at the end.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Jenson Button NORRIS - "About time huh?" "What a race yeah, finally I've been able to do it." "Delivered for my whole team - finally I'm on top." "The whole weekend has been good, I knew on Friday we had the pace and today we put it all together." "I'm just proud [of the team] and a lot of people doubted me. I stuck with McLaren because I believed in them." VERSTAPPEN - "You win, you lose - we are all used to that in racing." "On the mediums it didn't feel fantastic and the McLarens had more pace." "I'm very happy for Lando, it's not going to be his last one." "Understeer, oversteer - very low grip overall." "Definitely not our strongest weekend on race pace, but we'll come back stronger." LECLERC - "It was very tricky, I didn't have a great start. I thought we [Checo] would crash." "Today again we were missing a little pace and the timing of the Safety Car wasn't good." "I'm very happy for Lando, he deserves it."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 57-LAP MIAMI GRAND PRIX 1. L. Norris (Fastest Lap) 2. M. Verstappen 3. C. Leclerc 4. C. Sainz 5. S. Perez 6. L. Hamilton 7. Y. Tsunoda 8 G. Russell 9. F. Alonso 10. E. Ocon 11. N. Hülkenberg 12. P. Gasly 13. O. Piastri 14 G. Zhou 15. D. Ricciardo 16. V. Bottas 17. L. Stroll 18. K. Magnussen 19. A. Albon RET L. Sargeant
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
LANDO NORRIS WINS THE MIAMI GRAND PRIX! HE'S A GRAND PRIX WINNER AT LAST! It'll be Max Verstappen in the runner's up spot. And Charles Leclerc completes the podium in third.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 57/57: FINAL LAP
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 56/57: Piastri through on Ricciardo then for fifteenth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 55/57: 3-laps to go and Norris leads by 6.5-seconds over Verstappen then.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 54/57: Huge lock up from Albon as Ricciardo goes around the outside of the Williams. Not a great day from the Grove team with the Thai driver now dropping to the rear of the field.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 52/57: Albon loses out in a three-way brawl between Stroll and Zhou, with the Aston Martin moving up into thirteenth. Stroll possibly had all four wheels off the track when he passed Albon into Turn 1. Difficult to tell though and was only so briefly.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 51/57: Piastri wheel-to-wheel with his countryman for P16, as Ricciardo doesn't yield going into Turn 2. Not where Oscar would've thought he'd be battling today.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 50/57: NOR VER LEC SAI PER HAM TSU RUS ALO OCO HÜL GAS ALB STR ZHO RIC PIA BOT MAG is how the field looks heading into the final laps here. Sargeant out of his home race.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 49/57: There's no other movement at the front, as Leclerc is 2-seconds behind Verstappen and Sainz is 3.4-seconds behind his Ferrari teammate in fourth. Hamilton still chasing Perez with DRS for fifth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 48/57: Ocon again defends into the first sequence of corners to stay ahead in ninth. This time Alonso gets the move done and up into ninth is the two-time world champion.