At the Miami International Autodrome, the start of the Miami Grand Prix, the fourth race of the season is given three hours earlier than scheduled, in the hope of avoiding a rain storm forecast for later in the day. It is the fifth running of this event. Air temperature is 26 degrees, the track is at 35. Charles Leclerc starts from third on the grid, Lewis Hamilton from sixth place. The entire grid is on new Medium tyres.
Start. When the red lights go out, as Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen fight off the line, Charles makes the most of it to snatch the lead. Lewis stays sixth, despite a coming together with Franco Colapinto which leaves the SF-26 with damage to the floor and side pod.
Lap 4. Antonelli passes Charles, but the Monegasque retakes the lead on the next lap.
Lap 6. Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly crash into the barriers. Safety Car.
Lap 12. The race resumes and Leclerc still leads, but on the following lap he is passed by Lando Norris.
Lap 14. Now Antonelli passes Charles, who drops to third.
Lap 20. George Russell pits for Hard tyres, Lewis moves up to fifth.
Lap 21. Now Leclerc pits for fresh Hard tyres. He rejoins 12th behind Russell after a 3.7 second stop. Lewis is up to fourth.
Lap 22. Charles passes Esteban Ocon, Oliver Bearman and Alexander Albon to go ninth.
Lap 26. Antonelli pits while Verstappen passes Hamilton for third place, while Leclerc passes Carlos Sainz for eighth.
Lap 27. Lewis switches to Hard tyres and rejoins ninth, with Charles now seventh and then sixth one lap later, when Oscar Piastri makes his stop.
Lap 30. Hamilton passes Ocon for eight, Leclerc gets ahead of Russell and is up to fifth.
Lap 31. Colapinto makes his tyre stop. Charles is fourth and Lewis seventh.
Lap 46. Charles has great pace and makes up ten seconds on Verstappen and the fight begins. They swap places twice and in the end, the Monegasque is up to third.
Lap 56. Piastri attacks Charles and passes him at the last corner. The Monegasque fights back but spins, hitting the barrier, damaging the left front suspension. He still manages to cross the finish line, but has to settle for sixth place, one ahead of Lewis.
