Oscar Piastri, the leader of the Drivers' Championship, fought his way from fourth place to secure his third consecutive victory of the season at the Formula One Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.
The McLaren driver clinched his fourth win in six races this year, marking his sixth career triumph.
"I won the race I really wanted to. Yesterday was tough, with qualifying being one of my trickiest sessions of the year, so to come away with the win is an incredible result. The car was amazing today," Piastri said.
Piastri quickly passed teammate Lando Norris at the start, and after a brief virtual safety car period, he wasted no time overtaking Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and later Red Bull’s pole-sitter Max Verstappen.
Sprint race winner Norris, who was involved in an on-track dispute with Verstappen on the first lap, dropped to sixth but fought his way back to claim second place.
"It’s never the best feeling to finish second, but the team did an amazing job, so I can’t fault them at all. Oscar drove brilliantly, Max put up a strong fight as always, so it is what it is. I didn’t do a good enough job today, but I’m still happy to be second," Norris said.
Mercedes' George Russell took third, benefiting from a pit stop under the virtual safety car, securing his fourth podium finish in six races.
Four-time defending champion Verstappen had to settle for fourth.
After the race, Red Bull lodged a protest against Russell, alleging that the Mercedes driver failed to slow under yellow flags after Kick-Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto stopped on the track.
However, the protest, which, if successful, could have resulted in a penalty that would have promoted Verstappen to the podium, was rejected by the stewards.
Piastri now leads the Drivers' Championship with 131 points, 16 points ahead of Norris, while Verstappen is 32 points behind.
Verstappen got off to a good start but locked up in the first corner, allowing Norris to get alongside. However, the McLaren driver was boxed by the Dutchman, allowing Antonelli, Piastri, and Russell through, while Verstappen retained his lead.
Norris accused Verstappen of pushing him off the track, but the stewards took no action against the Red Bull driver.
A brief virtual safety car period followed after Jack Doohan of Alpine was stranded due to a puncture. After the restart, Piastri wasted no time overtaking Antonelli and set his sights on Verstappen.
The Australian eventually passed the Red Bull driver on lap 14, capitalizing on a mistake made by Verstappen.
Meanwhile, Norris also moved into the top three and made a pass on Verstappen on lap 17, only to lose the position shortly after. However, Norris overtook Verstappen for second place for good on the following lap, while Piastri had already opened an eight-second gap.
Verstappen pitted for fresh tires on lap 27, but he was unlucky, as the virtual safety car was deployed just two laps later after Oliver Bearman stopped his Haas on track due to a mechanical issue.
This benefited Piastri and Norris, who pitted and retained their positions in first and second, respectively, as well as Russell, who returned ahead of Verstappen.
"Really happy to come away with third as I’ve been struggling this weekend personally. Well done to McLaren, they were just too far down the road," Russell said.
Rain had been forecast during the race, but it never came, unlike in the sprint race, where rainfall led to a chaotic event that was delayed and ultimately won by Norris.
Alex Albon of Williams had a strong race, finishing fifth, while Antonelli, who claimed pole for the sprint race, finished sixth.
Ferrari took seventh and eighth with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, respectively, while Carlos Sainz of Williams and Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull completed the top 10.
