The F1 Title Battle Heads to Miami

Examining the current state of the Formula 1 world championship battle after the initial five races of the 2025 season, leading up to the Miami Grand Prix.

Piastri Settles Strongly Into New Status

A week after becoming the bookmakers` favourite following his Bahrain win, Oscar Piastri reinforced his position with another strong performance, securing victory over Max Verstappen in Saudi Arabia.

The Australian driver, currently in excellent form, has now won consecutive races for the first time in his F1 career – a feat his teammate Lando Norris is yet to achieve in the same season. Piastri has claimed victory in three of the last four races since an early-season mistake in Melbourne cost him a potential second place.

Since his first Grand Prix win in Hungary last July, Piastri has won five of the subsequent 17 races – one more than Norris and two more than Verstappen in the same period.

Observers and competitors alike have noted the 24-year-old`s increasing momentum and confidence over race weekends.

Commentary suggests Max Verstappen is widely considered the grid`s top driver, but Oscar Piastri is rapidly improving. Despite significantly less F1 experience than Verstappen and Norris, Piastri has already won 10% of his 51 starts and currently leads the championship, with expectations for further growth.

Verstappen himself commented after the race, appreciating Piastri`s `very calm approach` and ability to `deliver when he has to, barely makes mistakes`.

A key moment in Jeddah was Piastri`s wheel-to-wheel battle with pole-sitter Verstappen into the first corner. Piastri got a better start from second, came out ahead in the duel (an incident that resulted in a penalty for Verstappen according to stewards), and his success in this exchange impressed many.

Norris Returns to Scene of First Win in Need of Qualifying Turnaround

The fourth Formula 1 race at the Miami International Autodrome marks one year since Lando Norris achieved his first F1 victory there, starting fifth and finishing ahead of Verstappen in what was his 110th Grand Prix start.

Returning to Miami holds special significance for Norris. He needs a strong result this weekend to regain momentum after losing his early championship lead to Piastri following a challenging two races in the Middle East.

Norris particularly needs to improve his qualifying performance, an area where he previously held an advantage over his teammate. Expensive single-lap errors in China, Bahrain, and a crash in Saudi Arabia have meant Norris has only started from the front row twice this season. He finished sixth and tenth in qualifying in the last two weekends.

Both Norris and the team have discussed his recent struggles in adapting his driving style to this year`s McLaren, finding it difficult to extract maximum performance on low fuel during qualifying.

After recovering to fourth in Jeddah, Norris admitted he makes races difficult for himself, stating it would be `much easier` to start from the front. He acknowledged the need to improve his Saturday performances.

Team Principal Andrea Stella commented on Norris` race from 10th, highlighting its importance for his morale and praising his `absolutely brilliant` racecraft. Stella quoted Norris saying they `just have to polish a little bit the Saturdays and we will have fun`.

Being ten points behind Piastri at this point isn`t a significant gap, but Norris, who was running ahead of his teammate in Saudi Arabia before his qualifying issues, will be eager to bounce back quickly.

Verstappen in Touch and Still Looming Large

The fact that a win in Jeddah (instead of second place) would have put Max Verstappen ahead of Piastri in the standings highlights why the reigning four-time champion remains a significant threat to the McLaren drivers.

Commentary suggests an internal McLaren battle is developing, with Verstappen a constant threat `ready to pounce`. He is described as the driver currently `maximising` the potential of the Red Bull car and cannot be overlooked.

McLaren and their drivers are certainly aware of the threat, with Verstappen just 12 points adrift. Red Bull showed good pace in Saudi Arabia and are expected to introduce a significant upgrade when F1 returns to Europe at Imola.

While McLaren has downplayed the potential impact of upcoming changes to front-wing deflection tests (expected around round nine in Spain), Red Bull will likely be hoping these changes work in their favour from June.

Currently, the focus remains on maximizing results, something Verstappen excels at. As long as he stays within approximately 25 points (the equivalent of one race win) of the championship lead, he remains a strong contender for his fifth consecutive title.

Will Saudi Struggle Prove Exception or Rule for Mercedes and Russell?

Was George Russell`s cautious assessment of his championship prospects justified given Mercedes` disappointing race performance in Saudi Arabia?

The week prior in Bahrain, after a strong second-place finish between the McLarens (his third podium in four races), Russell had already cautioned, `I don’t expect this to continue for many races to come.`

Just one week later in Jeddah, Mercedes` persistent issue with tyre wear in hot conditions reappeared, severely impacting their race day. Russell finished fifth, 27 seconds behind Piastri.

Team Principal Toto Wolff described the Saudi performance as `clearly our worst so far this year,` citing a significant pace drop due to tyre blistering and overheating, for which they currently lacked explanations.

Miami is also expected to be warm. Furthermore, since joining the calendar in 2022, the Miami track has not historically been a strong circuit for Mercedes at the front.

This makes the upcoming Sprint weekend in Miami another key early-season test of Mercedes` ability to compete at the front in 2025.

Ferrari Need Something to Happen Soon

While it`s still early in the 24-race season to completely dismiss any potential title contenders, Ferrari and their prominent drivers need to stop losing ground to the leaders if they hope to mount a championship challenge.

Ferrari`s highest-ranked driver, Charles Leclerc, is fifth in the standings, heading to Miami already 52 points behind Piastri – a deficit equivalent to more than two race wins.

Leclerc lost 10 points due to a disqualification from fifth place in China, but his third-place finish in Jeddah remains Ferrari`s best Grand Prix result this season.

The SF-25 has shown competitive moments in certain race stints, but consistent front-running pace has been difficult to achieve, especially in qualifying, which has negatively impacted their race prospects.

Lewis Hamilton is 16 points further back in seventh place. Having lost eight points from the Chinese Grand Prix, he is currently behind Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli in the standings.

Given the significant early deficit to the quick McLarens, a dramatic shift would be required for Hamilton to contend for a record eighth title this year, although he stated in Japan that he didn`t expect to win the championship in his first year with Ferrari.

Nevertheless, the seven-time champion will hope his 2025 season improves soon, despite his somewhat ominous prediction after struggling in Saudi Arabia that it might be `painful` all year in a Ferrari he hasn`t yet fully connected with.

Drivers` Championship: Top Five

Miami GP Schedule

Thursday May 1
Drivers` Press Conference: 7pm

Friday May 2
F1 Academy Practice 1: 3pm
Miami GP Practice: 5.30pm
Team Bosses` Press Conference: 7.30pm
F1 Academy Practice 2: 8.15pm
Miami GP Sprint Qualifying: 9.30pm

Saturday May 3
F1 Academy Qualifying: 3.20pm
MIAMI GP SPRINT: 5pm
Ted`s Sprint Notebook: 6.30pm
F1 Academy Race 1: 7.50pm
Miami GP Qualifying build-up: 8.35pm
MIAMI GP QUALIFYING: 9pm
Ted`s Qualifying Notebook: 11pm

Sunday May 4
F1 Academy Race 2: 6pm
Grand Prix Sunday: Miami GP build-up: 7.30pm
The MIAMI GRAND PRIX: 9pm
Chequered Flag: Miami GP reaction: 11pm
Ted`s Notebook: Midnight