Kimi Antonelli had P2. Then the race started.

· Miami Sprint

18 battles across 19 laps

Live alerts fired during the Miami Sprint race

Antonelli qualified P2, which is where the teenager everyone calls the next Hamilton is supposed to be, and then the lights went out and he lost positions again. It has become a pattern over these last few races, and by lap 2 Grid Copilot had already flagged what was happening: he was losing a battle he should have been winning.

Battle for P4: Russell right behind Antonelli.
Battle for P4 Lap 2 and Antonelli is already defending. Not how you want to start.

While that was going on up front, the rest of the field was busy with its own arguments. Verstappen sat behind Hamilton on lap 8 until he forced his way through, Hadjar spent six laps hunting Colapinto down before the move finally came, and Piastri pulled away from Leclerc so steadily that it stopped being a fight at all.

Battle for P6: Verstappen right behind Hamilton.
Battle for P6 Pressured him for laps, then found a way through. Verstappen does not stay behind.
Hadjar catching Colapinto, 0.4s faster each lap.
Gap Closing: Battle for P9 Chased him down for 8 laps, then made the move. Colapinto had no answer.
Piastri pulling ahead of Leclerc.
Pulling Away: Battle for P2 Leclerc tried to stay with him. By lap 18 it was over.

McLaren are taking the fight to Mercedes and Verstappen is very much in the mix. Antonelli, meanwhile, is still losing races before they have properly started.

The Grand Prix is on Sunday with rain forecast, so we will find out then whether any of that changes.

P1

NORRIS

P2

PIASTRI

P3

LECLERC