Verstappen vs Norris: Who will claim victory at the Miami Grand Prix?

The 2025 Miami Grand Prix is scheduled to begin in about an hour, at 4 PM Eastern Time, with Max Verstappen starting in pole position and Lando Norris beside him in P2. Rookie sensation Kimi Antonelli had another outstanding performance in qualifying, and will be starting the Grand Prix from the second row in P3. Lining up beside the rookie is current drivers' leader Oscar Piastri, who will be starting from P4.

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Verstappen was definitely the subject of discussion during the Sprint Race yesterday after he lined up too far forward at the start, similarly to how Norris did in Bahrain just a few weeks ago. However, Verstappen wouldn't end up receiving a penalty for this “false start”, which begs the question of how the FIA will handle this issue moving forward. What's good and well for one person should be acceptable for all, especially when it comes to a standing start where everyone is supposed to start from a designated position on the grid.

Regardless, all eyes will be on Verstappen and Norris as they come into Turn 1 to start the race, especially after the Antonelli/Piastri incident that started the Sprint. Clearly, McLaren has been extremely quick off of the line so far this year, and have no problems with getting up close and personal to their opponents in Turn 1. But, Verstappen has his own history of trying to bully his way through on the opening lap, which he made evident last week in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

I'm guessing that this race won't be any different from those, and that Verstappen will be as aggressive as possible to start the race to try to take Turn 1 before his rival Norris. As much as I'm led to think that Norris will be equally aggressive, we did see him start a little slower during the Sprint, suggesting that he may be more interested in preserving his tires for a longer period of time than raw pace. This worked out well in his favor yesterday, thanks to a perfectly timed safety car following Fernando Alonso’s crash on Lap 15 securing his victory over teammate Piastri, so it will definitely be interesting to see what gameplan McLaren will bring to the table with him starting on the inside of the track for the Grand Prix.

Besides that, I do believe we will see Antonelli have a better start today, gaining quite a bit of confidence after his first pole start yesterday, and should be able to give Piastri a run for his money this time around. They will be starting 2 places back from where they did yesterday, meaning that Antonelli will have the chance to defend his starting position from Piastri for the second time in two races. I'm not going to make a prediction either way, but let me just say that I wouldn't be surprised to see the rookie stay ahead after Turn 1.

This battle for P1 was the talking point of the Sprint start ⚔️

Piastri sweeps to the lead, Antonelli thinks he's been forced off 🗣️#F1 #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/MswDLjLr25

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 4, 2025

Personally, I believe that McLaren will be banking on Verstappen to be overly aggressive at the start and hoping for him to receive another penalty, which could essentially secure another win and their third double podium finish of the season.

However, Red Bull brought some decent upgrades to Verstappen's vehicle this week, and seems to be matching McLaren's overall pace at the moment. McLaren does seem to have a slight advantage in the low-speed corners, so Verstappen will have to make a clean getaway and push himself to be as quick and consistent as possible, without drawing any penalties, in order to pull out the win.