05/05/2025
NEWS STORY
George Russell finished third and Kimi Antonelli P6 in Sunday's Miami Grand Prix. George's P3 marks his, and the team's, fourth podium of the 2025 season and both his and the team's maiden top three finish at the Miami Grand Prix.
Starting P3 on the Medium compound, Kimi moved up to second on the opening lap but couldn't resist the pace of the McLarens in the opening stint and dropped back to P4. George, opting for the alternative strategy and starting on the Hard tyre, shadowed him in P5.
Kimi stopped to switch to the Hard tyre on lap 26; he was delayed slightly by traffic in the pitlane and thus was unable to attempt the undercut on Verstappen. George meanwhile ran longer and took advantage of a Virtual Safety Car period to switch to the Medium tyre and rejoin in P3. The Brit resisted pressure from Verstappen in the closing stages to take third and maintain his strong start to the season. Kimi meanwhile battled hard, dropping back to P6 behind the Williams of Alex Albon at the flag.
The team sits second in the Constructors' Championship after the first quarter of the season and returns to action in two weeks' time for Kimi's home race at Imola.
George Russell: I am really happy to come away with P3 today in Miami. I've been struggling a little more than usual this weekend and not felt as comfortable in the car as at previous races this season. I've been a little on the back foot but when it mattered, we've put in a good performance and come away with another strong result. Verstappen was close behind me after we pitted but I felt positive on the Medium tyre and knew I could manage my pace to keep him behind.
Ultimately the McLarens had a decent advantage over the rest of the field so congratulations to them. It will be a tough ask to close them down, but we will keep working on doing that, and we're looking forward to the upcoming triple header in Europe, starting at Imola.
Kimi Antonelli: Unfortunately, we didn't just have the pace today to fight for much more than what we achieved. I made a good start and was running P2, but the McLarens had too much pace for us, and we dropped behind them. I still felt good on the Medium compound in the opening stint but I struggled a little more on the Hard tyre in the second half of the race. Our pace wasn't great and that contributed to our P6 finish. We will have to analyse why that was as a team and see where we can improve.
Overall, though, I am pleased with how the weekend went. Our qualifying pace was strong, and it was nice to take my first Sprint pole position. I'm still gaining experience in terms of my race management, and I am sure that will continue to get better as the season progresses. I am now excited for the next race at Imola and my first ever home Grand Prix. I am sure the atmosphere and support will be incredible, so I am very much looking forward to the weekend there.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO: George drove a great race today and did everything he needed to do to claim third. It was another mature performance where he got everything out of the car that was there. Obviously, the gap to the McLarens was large though. That is disappointing but we are working hard to bring updates that will hopefully close that deficit. We've seen these performance gaps fluctuate over these first six races, and some weekends other teams get right in the mix at the front, but they are the team to beat right now.
Kimi meanwhile showed his talent this weekend but had a race where he will take away some good learnings. That is completely normal for a rookie driver, and one that is just 18 years old. The race management will come as he continues to build his experience and we're now looking forward to the upcoming triple-header in Europe. The next race will mark Kimi's first ever home Grand Prix at Imola and I am sure he will be looking forward to that.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: Congratulations to George on his fourth podium of the season. We benefited from the deployment of the Virtual Safety Car to jump Verstappen, but that is always one of the upsides of running long. We had opted to start George on the Hard compound so that we could do this and that decision paid off. We also estimated the chance of a wet race at about 50% but, despite a cell getting incredibly close, the rain just passed us by.
Whilst George benefited from the Virtual Safety Car, Kimi lost out having stopped just before it came out. We had to box him to protect from Albon in the Williams who had the chance to deploy the undercut. Some traffic in the pit lane cost him and ultimately his pace on the Hard tyre consigned him to P6. It has still been another good weekend for Kimi though as he continues his development.
McLaren were the class of the field once again today and we are working hard to close that gap. Overall, we leave Miami pleased we have added more points to our tally compared to Red Bull and Ferrari, but knowing we have got work to do if we are to challenge at the very front each weekend. Our single lap has been a strength, but we need to improve our long run pace. Hopefully we can make some gains in this area starting in Imola in two weeks' time.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Miami here.