Oscar Piastri wins at Miami for 3rd straight F1 victory, 4th win of season for championship leader

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The first time Oscar Piastri arrived at the Miami Grand Prix as a Formula 1 driver he was in the slowest car in the field and only narrowly avoided finishing last.

Fast-forward two years and Piastri and McLaren Racing have come full circle.

Piastri maintained his advantage in the F1 championship fight by winning at Miami on Sunday for his fourth win through six races this season. Piastri has won three consecutive F1 races for McLaren Racing, where he and teammate Lando Norris are trying to dethrone four-time defending champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

McLaren has won Miami the last two years, with Norris on top last season for his first career F1 victory.

“It’s just incredible, the hard work that’s gone in,” Piastri said of McLaren. “I remember two years ago here in Miami, we were genuinely the slowest team. I think we got lapped twice and to now have won the Grand Prix by over 35 seconds to third is an unbelievable result of the hard work of every single person.”

Piastri is the first McLaren driver to win three consecutive F1 races in 28 years; Mika Hakkinen did it with a win in the 1997 season finale and then victories in the first two races of 1998.

He widened his lead over Norris in the driver standings to 16 points, while Verstappen trails Piastri by 32 points.

Norris' win at Miami last season snapped Verstappen’s two-year winning streak at the course surrounding Hard Rock Stadium. Norris also won the sprint race on Saturday — Piastri dominated but a late safety car cost him the victory — but Verstappen won the pole in qualifying.

Verstappen, who announced the birth of his first child Friday morning, has been determined to disprove the myth that fatherhood would make him a more conservative driver. It was evident as he darted away at the start and then aggressively held off Norris’ challenge for the lead.

The Red Bull and McLaren were side-by-side and Norris was trying to edge ahead of the Dutchman, but he ran off track and lost four spots. Norris said Verstappen forced him off track and there was nothing he could do but try to avoid running into a wall — but F1 took no action against Verstappen.

“What can I say? If I don't go for it, people complain. If I go for it, people complain,” Norris said. “You can't win. But it really just how it is with Max — it's crash or their pass.”

Verstappen was unapologetic after fading to fourth and insisted he raced within the rules.

“I mean, I had nothing to lose, so I also wanted to have a bit of fun out there,” Verstappen said, adding McLaren's strong start to the season is “not frustrating at all.”

“We are here to win and today we were miles off that, so it doesn't really matter,” Verstappen said.

Norris recovered from the early incident and picked his way back toward the front, but not before Piastri took control away from Verstappen on the 14th of 57 laps. McLaren has decided it will allow Piastri and Norris to race each other cleanly without team orders, and Norris was cleared to challenge his Australian teammate for the victory.

In the waning laps, Norris was able to close the gap but could never catch Piastri and settled for second in a 1-2 finish for McLaren. The two held a nearly 40-second advantage over George Russell of Mercedes, who finished third.

Alex Albon of Williams was fifth, Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes was sixth and Charles Leclerc was seventh after Ferrari ordered Lewis Hamilton to give his teammate the position in the closing laps. Hamilton was eighth.

Carlos Sainz Jr. was ninth for Williams and Yuki Tsunoda was 10th for Red Bull.

Jack Doohan ran into another car on the opening lap and then crashed on the second lap — a showing that won’t quiet chatter the rookie is on the verge of being replaced at Alpine by Franco Colapinto.

There have been media reports in Argentina that Colapinto will replace Doohan at F1’s next race, later this month in Italy. It was dismissed at the start of the Miami weekend by Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes, who indicated “as it is today” the Australian would still be in the seat at Imola.

“I think it was a sponsor from Argentina off-camera giving his view on Franco, when he’s going to be in the car. I’m sure there’s a lot of people in Argentina who’d like him in the car this Sunday,” Oakes said about the speculation. “We’ve been pretty open as a team that that’s just noise. Jack needs to continue doing a good job. But it’s natural that there’s always speculation there.

“As it is today, Jack is our driver along with Pierre (Gasly),” he continued. “We’ve been pretty clear on that. We always evaluate, but today that is the case.”

Doohan, who didn’t complete two laps Sunday and finished last, has yet to score a point this season through six races. His best finish was 13th at the Chinese Grand Prix.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia smiles after winning the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain makes a pit stop during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (Shawn Thew/Pool Photo via AP)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia makes a pits stop during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (Shawn Thew/Pool Photo via AP)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain makes a pit stop during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (Shawn Thew/Pool Photo via AP)

Gordon Ramsay watches the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (Shawn Thew/Pool Photo via AP)

Fans watch McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia race past during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands makes a turn during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands makes a turn during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain makes a turn during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain races during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain races during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Fans cheer from the stands during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia smiles after winning the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia crosses the finish to win the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (Shawn Thew/Pool Photo via AP)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, right, stands on top of his car after a third place finish in the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates after winning the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri of Australia, left, and Lando Norris of Britain celebrate after a first and second place finish in the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates after winning the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia stands on top of his car after winning the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia races during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

DENVER (AP) — A Frontier Airlines plane hit and killed a pedestrian on the runway of the Denver International Airport during takeoff, airport authorities said, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate.

The plane, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday," the airport's official X account wrote.

A spokesperson for the airport said the pedestrian, who jumped a perimeter fence, has died. They said the unidentified person was hit two minutes after entering the airport. The person is not believed to be an airport employee.

“We're stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the control tower according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”

The pilot tells the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board and that an “individual was walking across the runway.”

The air traffic controller responds that they are “rolling the trucks now" before the pilot tells the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.”

Frontier Airlines said in a statement flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.” It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the crash with the pedestrian.

“The Airbus A321 was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members,” the airline said. “We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities.”

Passengers were then evacuated via slides and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal. The airport spokesperson said 12 passengers suffered minor injuries and five were taken to local hospitals.

Denver Airport said the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified and that runway 17L, where the incident took place, will remain closed while an investigation is conducted. It is expected to open later today.

The pedestrian death came a day after a Delta Air Lines employee was killed while on the job at the Orlando International Airport. In a statement, the airline said the employee was killed Thursday night without providing details of the incident nor the name of the employee.

“We are focused on extending our full support to family and taking care of our Orlando team during this difficult time,” the airline said. "We are working with local authorities as a full investigation gets underway to determine what occurred.”

FILE - A Frontier Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for take off from Denver International airport on Nov. 25, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)