F1 Miami GP LIVE: Race start time and updates as Verstappen starts on pole with Hamilton in 12th

George Russell told Sky Sports after qualifying fifth yesterday that, “A podium would be a win tomorrow. Realistically, the McLarens are out of reach. Max’s race pace has been surprisingly good recently.

“We talk a lot about McLaren but Red Bull are still strong. Hopefully a bit more rain will spice things up a bit.”

Here are the latest odds for the Miami Grand Prix winner, as per Betfair:

7. Aston Martin – 13 points

8. Racing Bulls – 10 points

1. Oscar Piastri – 106 points

2. Lando Norris – 97 points

3. Max Verstappen – 87 points

4. George Russell – 77 points

5. Charles Leclerc – 47 points

6. Kimi Antonelli – 38 points

7. Lewis Hamilton – 37 points

8. Alex Albon – 25 points

9. Esteban Ocon – 14 points

10. Lance Stroll – 13 points

11. Ollie Bearman – 7 points

12. Nico Hulkenberg – 6 points

13. Pierre Gasly – 6 points

14. Isack Hadjar – 5 points

15. Carlos Sainz – 5 points

16. Yuki Tsunoda – 5 points

17. Liam Lawson – 2 points

18. Fernando Alonso – 0 points

19. Jack Doohan – 0 points

20. Gabriel Bortoleto – 0 points

Championship-chasing Oscar Piastri will hope to find his rhythm today after admitting he was off kilter during qualifying.

“I fell out of the rhythm a little bit,” Piastri (qualified fourth) says. “My best lap of qualifying was the first lap of Q2. I peaked a bit early.

“I couldn’t get into the rhythm in Q3. The car was great and deserved more but both laps in Q3 were quite scruffy. That’s the price you pay.”

“It’s going to be tight at the front [in the race]. We saw how close qualifying was and it’s going to be tough to make progress.

“I think you can, and the weather is not that straightforward, so I think we can make progress but it will be difficult.”

Formula One has announced a record-long contract with the Miami Grand Prix until at least the 2041 season.

The 10-year extension, with the previous deal expiring in 2031, was announced on Friday ahead of the 2025 event starting at the Miami International Autodrome.

It is now F1’s longest current contract with a grand prix, with Australia the nearest with a deal until 2037.

There were “many things, lots of different things, there’s not one in particular” that caused a less-than-spectacular seventh-place result in the last race, Hamilton said during a pre-race weekend press conference.

When asked for specifics, he reflected on his time at Mercedes and the transition phase.

“When I joined Mercedes, the first six months were tough getting attuned to working with new people,” Hamilton said. “Obviously, the engineers that I’m working with now are used to setting up the car for a different driver and a different driving style. And I’m used to driving a car with a different driving style, and so it’s a combination of a bunch of different things.”

“I’m very happy with the end result,” Lando Norris said after qualifying.

“Just a shame when you miss out on pole, so that’s the frustrating bit, but I think I’ve been trying different things.

“I’ve been doing different things with the team to try and work a bit more in this area and things hhave been taking a step forward.”

Piastri had an advantage right away, starting ahead of Norris in second, and capitalised on it by beating pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli on the first lap’s first corner. But it wasn’t until Piastri pitted on lap 14 that Norris took the lead.

When a safety car left less than a lap up for grabs in the 18-lap sprint, Norris was the one who made it out of the pits in time to take the lead and keep it. Piastri, who had successfully held off Norris most of the race, reflected on the “cruel business” of racing post-sprint.

Kimi Antonelli said he wanted to bounce back from losing pole in the sprint race and he certainly did that, qualifying third-quickest on Saturday.

“Really really happy with how every weekend I’m more with the car and trying to explore the limit as well. And so far this weekend, I felt really good in the car. So that’s definitely a positive,” the 18-year-old said.

Compare that to teammate George Russell, who was fifth in qualifying, his worst result of the season, and said on race radio through qualy that he had “no confidence” in the car.