Kimi Antonelli made it three consecutive race wins from three consecutive pole positions, on a weekend where McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari all brought major upgrades. However, it’s the Silver Arrows that still hold the advantage.
F1 returned from its five-week hiatus for the Miami Grand Prix, and the Mercedes domination we saw in the opening three races of the season was brought to a close, despite Antonelli seeing the chequered flag. What does it mean for Mercedes’ advantage?
F1 returned from its five-week hiatus for the Miami Grand Prix, and the Mercedes domination we saw in the opening three races of the season was challenged as its rivals mounted a close fight, despite Antonelli seeing the chequered flag. What does it mean for Mercedes’ advantage?
Upgrades for McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull help
Before the five-week hiatus, you were realistically saying that Ferrari were the only team that were giving a fight to Mercedes, given a lot of the yo-yo’ing we had seen at the start of races with the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Anotnelli and George Russell.
But as F1 returned from its hiatus for the Grand Prix in Miami, more teams were in the fight and closing in on the Mercedes advantage. Lando Norris and McLaren managed to win the sprint on Saturday, with Norris taking pole for it too.
The Grand Prix had six different race leaders, albeit Antonelli didn’t help himself with a poor race start, as Leclerc launched his Ferrari off the line, going from P4 to P1. There was the Red Bull of Max Verstappen right in the mix, though, putting pressure on the young Italian, but it proved costly for the Dutchman at the beginning as he was squeezed out by Leclerc, with the 4X World Champion dropping back to P10.
The picture at the top four has opened up, as it just wasn’t Mercedes anymore. McLaren returned to competitiveness this weekend, as seen in the sprint and the race, with continuous battles among Leclerc, Norris, and Antonelli in the early part of the race.
The continuous lead changes and the constant battles on track meant it wasn’t going to be all Mercedes dominance as previously anticipated; their rivals’ significant upgrades proved to bring them closer to the Silver Arrows and at least into the mix for battles at the front of the field.
McLaren and Red Bull, two teams that had significant improvements in Miami, considering how they looked during the opening races of the season.
Mercedes is still the team to beat
Despite the gains their rivals made this weekend, Mercedes remains the team to beat and holds the advantage.
Antonelli moved back into P1 and rescued the weekend for his team, holding off Norris after all the pit stops. It did look like the current World Champion was closing in on the teenager, but he pulled away despite gearbox fears and rising tyre temperatures.
Whilst his team-mate Russell managed to bring it home in P4. Now Mercedes still has the advantage over their rivals, which hasn’t changed since the last race in Suzuka, but it’s not as big a margin as it was five weeks ago, when it was just them and Ferrari being a distant second best.
They are still the benchmarkers, the frontrunners, the team everyone is chasing, because even with minor upgrades, Antonelli had a two-second gap to Norris, who couldn’t close in to threaten the young Italian for the last stint of the race.
The momentum still lies within the Silver Arrows, but there will be a fight on their hands going forward. Given how Miami went, there is an expectation that more is to come, as this new season of regulations keeps everyone guessing about what happens next.