Jenson Button pinpoints the ‘big difference’ in Oscar Piastri this season in his F1 title fight after the Miami Grand Prix

For the first time since Mika Hakkinen last century, Oscar Piastri has won three Grand Prix on the bounce for McLaren.

There have been times this season when McLaren haven’t quite capitalised on the advantage that they have over the rest of the paddock.

However, the Miami Grand Prix was not one of those times, with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris a long way clear of their rivals.

George Russell joined the papaya pair on the podium, but he was more than half a minute behind the McLaren drivers by the time the chequered flag flew.

Norris started ahead of Piastri on the grid but got squeezed wide by Max Verstappen through the opening sequence of corners.

That allowed Piastri and Kimi Antonelli through and despite Verstappen defending like Michael Schumacher, the Australian didn’t take too long to navigate his way past his Red Bull.

Norris, on the other hand, continued to try the same move around the outside of the four-time world champion going into the first corner, something he defended against easily.

By the time he finally made his way past the Red Bull driver, Piastri had driven off into the distance and all but confirmed the sixth Grand Prix victory of his career.

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Jenson Button explains the ‘big difference’ he’s seen in Oscar Piastri after the Miami Grand Prix

F1 world champion Jenson Button was on interviewing duties after the race in Miami, and when he spoke to the current drivers’ championship leader, he said, “For me, the big difference that I see from you from last year to now is the race pace.

“How you control a race, it seems that when we put Oscar in the lead of a Grand Prix, there’s no looking back, you control the pace from the time you get into the lead until the chequered flag.”

Piastri replied, “Yeah, I mean, I think the first stint was really, really strong and then on the hards I was honestly struggling a little bit.

“So, it was a good thing that I built that gap in the first stint.

“I think towards the end I started to get things a bit more under control, but there’s still definitely some things to work on from this afternoon.

“So, very happy with the win, very happy with the points, but constantly got to keep learning, so, very happy to be leaving Miami on top.”

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Lando Norris ‘nowhere near’ Oscar Piastri in key area after the Miami Grand Prix

It’s impossible to rule Verstappen out of the title fight just yet given his pedigree and Russell is keeping himself within touching distance after yet another podium finish.

However, there’s a good chance that the race for the championship comes down to the battle between the two McLaren drivers.

Team principal Andrea Stella pinpointed what Norris did wrong against Verstappen on the opening lap, and although it was a small error, the margins are so fine this year that he can’t get away with mistakes like that.

F1 fans now think Piastri has the upper hand over Norris going into the next part of the season after what they witnessed in Miami.

Piastri has a numerical advantage and from a psychological point of view, has now jumped ahead of Norris in the all-time F1 winners list with victory in Miami.

Considering he’s taken part in far fewer races than his more experienced teammate, that’s going to be tough to take.