Martin Brandl on the results of the Miami Grand Prix

      Former Formula 1 racer and Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brandl summed up the Grand Prix of Miami…

      The Miami Grand Prix promised to be interesting, and in the end it turned out that way. In the first laps, we saw a dramatic wheel-to-wheel battle between pole holder Max Verstappen, championship leader Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who returned to the leadership group. After 57 intense laps, the increasingly impressive Piastri took his third victory in a row and fourth of the season, increasing his lead in the individual standings.

      The long-discussed and anticipated downpour hit the Hard Rock Stadium, but instead of a real safety car, the race directorate released a virtual one, so the reboot that we so much wanted to see in the second part of the race did not work out. But we still have a lot to discuss.

      The pole position of 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli in the sprint and third place on the Grand Prix grid is very good news. He's a future Formula 1 star, even if he was a little cheeky in both races. He's a fast learner and he'll figure it out.

      The safety car helped Norris win the sprint, as well as winning the Grand Prix last year, but in Sunday's race, the need to avoid a collision with Verstappen's Red Bull robbed him of any chance of another victory.

      Max did not want the McLaren to slip on the inside of the first corner, and seized the advantage, as in Jeddah, but blocked the front tires. Lando stepped on the gas – the track ahead was clear, but in the second corner Max maneuvered again, and suddenly Lando, who was outside, lost his seat and was forced to drive into the departure zone, which cost him four positions.

      As soon as Piastri dealt with Antonelli and took second place, he eagerly began to pursue the leading Verstappen. Piastri has great racing skills, he's a fraction of a second more efficient and sharper than Norris, and Verstappen knows it.

      On lap 14, Piastri forced Verstappen to defend in the first corner, forcing him to flatten to the inside and brake too late. Piastri instinctively saw how the Red Bull's slide was developing, and steered the car more precisely, after which he seized the lead, which he no longer missed.

      Meanwhile, Norris passed Alex Elbon's Williams and both Antonelli and Russell's Mercedes, but was unable to exert the same tactical pressure on Verstappen as Piastri, and by the time he finally passed on lap 18, forced to return position to Verstappen on the previous lap for overtaking off the track, his team-mate Piastri was already nine seconds ahead.

      On a weekend when McLaren was supposed to take two winning doubles, the virtual safety car (VSC) mode, announced due to Oliver Berman's Haas stalled on the side of the road, played an ideal role for the team: a double pit stop was carried out just before the mode was canceled and everyone drove at full speed again..

      From that moment on, both McLaren drivers were a second faster than the others from the lap, and Norris was doing everything possible to catch up with Piastri, and we were able to assess the real speed of the car over a long stretch.

      Russell struggled throughout the race, it seemed like he was missing a couple of tenths, but he saved his head, car and tires, securing another podium. But what almost let him down was his stomach: in the last 15 laps, painful cramps began.

      Russell was helped by the fact that on Lap 29 he made a pit stop under the VSC and moved up to third place, but Verstappen kept him on his toes throughout the final phases, even telling tales about George not lifting his foot off the gas pedal under yellow flags. After the race, Red Bull filed a protest about this, which the stewards rejected.

      Alex Albon finished fifth, having driven another great race. On that day and throughout the weekend, Williams was fourth fastest. If it hadn't been for a technical error in the sprint, Elbon could have scored a few more points. He's in the best shape of his life right now.

      Carlos Sainz had several adventures in the second Williams and was injured by contact with his teammate on the first lap. He was unlucky with the VSC mode announcement, ending up behind two Ferraris and then crashing into the side of Hamilton's car after an ambitious attempt to pass. No additional measures were taken against any of the riders, they were found equally guilty of "avoidable contact."

      Antonelli finished sixth after having the bad luck to change tires four laps before the VSC. He will have to learn how to control the tires better on long laps in hot weather.

      Leclair and Hamilton finished seventh and eighth after exchanging positions and having numerous arguments on the radio. In 57 laps, Leclair lost 57 seconds to the winner of the race – it's easy to calculate how much Ferrari is inferior to McLaren.

      Hamilton started on Hard and finished on Medium, while Leclair did the opposite. When they met on the track in the middle of the race, Hamilton expected the team to quickly pass him ahead as he was rapidly gaining on his teammate, but they remained silent for three laps.

      It may be wrong that some negotiations are broadcast to the whole world, but this is important for the intrigue. Lewis' comment "take a tea break" and "you want me to skip Williams too" speak for themselves, although the drivers and the team did not comment on them.

      Leclair was allowed to overtake Hamilton at the end of the race when Lewis' Medium tyres lost efficiency, but he was unable to catch up with Antonelli in the final laps.

      Yuki Tsunoda finished 10th for Red Bull, holding off RB Isaac Hajjar despite a five-second speeding penalty in the pit lane. This meant that five teams - McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, Williams and Ferrari - shared all the points, with two cars each in the top ten.

      Aston Martin have been painfully slow in the race, and if they don't get some magical upgrades soon, then this year will be a long and very painful one for the Silverstone team, and it's sad for the whole of Formula One.

      We have two weeks to catch our breath, and then we will have a series of three European stages in a row – in Imola, Monaco and Barcelona.