How McLaren set a unique record at the Miami Grand Prix

McLaren became the first Formula 1 team in history to score maximum points from a sprint race weekend since the format was introduced in 2021.

Lando Norris led a 1-2 for McLaren in the sprint race at Miami Autodrome on Saturday, before Oscar Piastri repeated that feat in the Miami Grand Prix a day later.

While Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen and George Russell have all scored a ‘double win’ in their F1 careers, no team had managed to finish 1-2 in both the sprint and the grand prix in a race weekend until now.

Incredibly, McLaren managed to achieve that historic result despite not qualifying on pole position for either of the races.

Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli shocked his rivals by topping the sprint qualifying on Friday, but his lead didn’t last long as he ran wide at Turn 1 while battling with Piastri. Norris eventually won the race due to the timing of an FCY coinciding with his pitstop for slick tyres.

On Saturday, Verstappen once again outgunned the McLaren duo in qualifying but had to concede defeat to both drivers in the race. In fact, the MCL39 was so dominant in Miami that the highest non-McLaren driver (Russell) ended up 37s behind Piastri at the finish.

McLaren came away from the Miami weekend with 58 points, the second-highest points haul for a team from a grand prix weekend.

With this result, McLaren equalled Red Bull, which also scored 58 points during the Emilia GP in 2022.

On that occasion, Verstappen and Perez finished first and third in the sprint and completely annihilated the competition in the grand prix. This should have yielded 57 points (14+43), but Sunday winner Verstappen also scored a bonus point for the fastest lap in the race.

Norris was the quickest driver over a single lap  in Miami on Sunday, but F1 stopped handing bonus points for the fastest lap after the 2024 season.

Williams holds the record for scoring the maximum number of points in a race weekend, having accumulated 66 points by finishing second and third in the double-points Abu Dhabi GP in 2014.

F1 dropped the much-maligned bonus-points rule for season finales after just one year, meaning Williams’ record will not be beaten unless the series changes its points-scoring system again.