(Formula One) – Oscar Piastri has strengthened his lead in the World Championship by clinching his fourth victory of the season at the Miami Grand Prix, the Australian leading home team mate Lando Norris to seal a dominant 1-2 for McLaren.

While Max Verstappen initially led away from pole, a battle with Norris saw the Briton run wide and drop down the order, letting Kimi Antonelli and Piastri through in the process. But as the laps ticked down, and Piastri overtook the Mercedes, Verstappen soon found himself under increasing pressure from the championship leader.

After Piastri eventually found a way past into the lead, a recovering Norris subsequently followed through into second, allowing the ‘papaya’ cars to build up a sizeable gap at the front.

And while plenty of action unfolded behind them across the 57-lap event, the ‘papaya’ cars looked to be in a league of their own right to the chequered flag, where Piastri crossed the line by 4.63s from Norris.

Mercedes’ George Russell claimed the final spot on the podium, in third, despite being a whopping 37 seconds back from Piastri, highlighting McLaren’s commanding performance, while Verstappen had to settle for fourth in the Red Bull, continuing the statistic of the Miami polesitter never having won the race.

Alex Albon was an impressive fifth for Williams, ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli in sixth. The Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, were seventh and eighth, respectively, the pair having been involved in a lengthy team orders debate in the latter stages that saw Hamilton move in front before the positions were reversed later on.

Hamilton held onto eighth despite a late-race scrap with the Williams’ of Carlos Sainz, the Spaniard remaining in ninth following the incident that will be investigated after the race. Yuki Tsunoda, meanwhile, grabbed the final point on offer in P10 for Red Bull.

Isack Hadjar narrowly missed out in 11th, the Racing Bulls driver finishing ahead of Haas’ Esteban Ocon in 12^th, and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly in 13th. The latter, along with Sainz, will be investigated for a possible yellow-flag infringement after the race.