Month: May 2025

Lando Norris took victory at the famous street circuit for McLaren even though the mandatory two pitstops at Monaco was unable to provide a spectacle.

In a race was turned into an odd game of chess by a one-off mandate to use three sets of Pirelli tyres, and therefore make two pitstops, Norris avoided the spectre of unfortunately timed neutralisations to convert his pole into his second win of the season.

Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri joined him on the podium, with Max Verstappen fourth after banking on a late red flag to no avail.

At the start Norris locked up his tyres to keep the lead from Leclerc into Turn 1’s Ste Devote, while Piastri stayed ahead of Verstappen after the Red Bull driver looked around the outside.

At the rear Gabriel Bortoleto found the wall on the exit of Portier after duelling with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the Sauber driver continuing but not before triggering a virtual safety car.

The leaders stayed out, but the yellow flag was shown so Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly and Oliver Bearman to make an early first pitstop. Gasly’s efforts to make an alternate strategy work ended into the back of Tsunoda’s Red Bull at the Nouvelle Chicane, with Gasly reporting “no brakes” as he smashed up his front-left corner, with Tsunoda fortunate to escape damage.

On three wheels Gasly made his way back to the pits to retire, with a local double yellow flag for a piece of Alpine front wing. Piastri dodged the piece of wing which gave Verstappen a chance to stick his nose alongside, but much to the Red Bull driver trying to get past, Piastri promptly closed the door in the fight for third.

Liam Lawson created a buffer for fifth-place starting teammate Isack Hadjar, who then made a cheap pitstop for softs, only losing two positions thanks to his teammate.

The front of the midfield pitting changed the dynamic of the race, with the leaders now no longer being able to afford cruising around. Norris and company immediately upped the pace by several seconds per lap to keep their pitstop gap intact.

Hamilton was able to jump Hadjar, who soon boxed a second time for hard tyres so he could go to the end.

Norris was the first of the lead group to blink, pitting on lap 20 for hard Pirellis. Piastri followed him in on the next lap to undercut Leclerc but the home hero responded on the next lap to keep position.

A couple of tense laps followed for the McLarens as Verstappen was released into free air, hoping for some sort of safety car as he lacked the outright pace to threaten the Papaya cars. But the race stayed green until the Red Bull driver made his first stop on lap 29, re-emerging where he started in fourth.

Norris carried on in the lead with a six second gap to Leclerc and another handful of seconds on Piastri and Verstappen, with Hamilton the biggest mover at the halfway point from seventh to fifth.

The race order was stable until the second and final round of pitstops provided the next chance for some chaos.

Piastri moved first on lap 49, which triggered a reaction from Leclerc’s Ferrari pitcrew on the following lap, and Norris on lap 51. Meanwhile, Verstappen stuck to his plan by staying out, increasing the pace and hoping for a safety car once more.

Norris and Leclerc soon closed the gap to Verstappen, which meant the only hope for Red Bull had left was a red flag for a free tyre change. With Hamilton also pitting, Verstappen was under no pressure to take his final stop before the very end.

Verstappen’s slow pace backed Norris into the Leclerc and Piastri, which made Lando’s final series of laps fairly uncomfortable.

But the world champion’s second pitstop with one lap to go finally allowed Norris back past to claim his second win of the season ahead of Leclerc and Piastri, with Verstappen and Hamilton in the top five.

Hadjar finished an excellent sixth thanks to Lawson’s early teamwork and Racing Bull’s clever strategy. Esteban Ocon’s Haas team also perfectly planned with two pitstops to finish seventh, while Lawson was rewarded for his efforts with eighth.

Williams duo Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz took the final points, which was also the result of the pair backing up the chasing Mercedes cars.

Both Russell and Antonelli were unable to make their way into the points after qualifying outside the top ten, gambling on chaos by delaying their two pitstops after those of their rivals.

Frustrated with Albon’s blocking, Russell decided to pass the Williams by cutting the chicane, intentionally taking a time penalty instead of giving the position back. But the race stewards responded by handing Russell a drive-through instead of a time penalty to stop his plan.

Alonso lost out on his first points of the season by retiring with suspected power unit issue, parking his Aston Martin behind the wall at Rascasse to avoid any disruption to the race.

In the championship Norris closes the gap to points leader Piastri to just three points. Verstappen lost three points to Oscar and heads to next weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona 25 points behind.

So not the most thrilling Monaco race even though the sport’s governing body added the two pitstops as mandatory to improve the spectacle. The teams just stick to their strategy plan with the drivers managing the tyres.

Congratulation to Lando Norris in winning the most famous race on the Formula 1 calendar. He closes the points gap to McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri by three points. Roll on Spain.

Monaco Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:40:33.843
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +3.131s
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren +3.658s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull +20.572s
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +51.387s
6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +1 lap
7 Esteban Ocon Alpine +1 lap
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1 lap
9 Alexander Albon Williams +2 laps
10 Carlos Sainz Williams +2 laps
11 George Russell Mercedes +2 laps
12 Oliver Bearman Haas +2 laps
13 Franco Colapinto Alpine +2 laps
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +2 laps
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +2 laps
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +2 laps
17 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +2 laps
18 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +3 laps
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF
Pierre Gasly Alpine DNF

Lando Norris will start the Monaco Grand Prix in pole position for McLaren beating the home favourite Charles Leclerc and championship leader Oscar Piastri to the top grid spot at the famous street circuit.

Norris looked set to lose out to P1 to Leclerc, who had led every practice session, after the second round of laps in Q3. But continuing on his set soft tyres Norris found another tenth and a half to clinch the top grid slot with his third flying lap, beating last year’s race winner by 0.109 seconds.

Lando’s time of one minute, 09.954 seconds lap was a new track record around the 3.3km venue, and earned the McLaren driver’s first pole since the opening Australian Grand Prix.

Norris had also led the first run from teammate Oscar Piastri, with the championship leader eventually settling for third on the grid after losing time in the Nouvelle Chicane.

Lewis Hamilton was fourth on the grid for Ferrari, four tenths behind, but the seven-time world champion may still be demoted after impeding Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Q1. Verstappen could only manage fifth on the grid for Red Bull, seven tenths behind pole position.

Isack Hadjar was an excellent sixth for Racing Bulls, overcoming two taps with the wall in free practice to end up as the most impressive rookie on the difficult street circuit.

Fernando Alonso was seventh for Aston Martin, just 0.001 seconds behind Hadjar, with Esteban Ocon also putting in a solid effort for Haas to clinch eighth. Liam Lawson took ninth, with Williams driver Alex Albon completing the top ten.

Norris and Piastri led the running in the early part of qualifying, before Leclerc eventually topped Q1 with a time of one minute, 11.229 seconds.

Most cars were fuelled for a longer stint, using cool-down laps to keep the softs in the window. The narrow margins and significant track evolution meant none of the frontrunners could afford to stay in the garage at the end.

There was pressure on Lewis Hamilton to advance, having dropped to P15, but the seven-time world champion did enough to make it to Q2.

It was Gabriel Bortoleto who was the first to miss out in P16, followed by Oliver Bearman, who will start at the back due to a ten-place grid penalty for ignoring red flags in FP2.

Pierre Gasly was out in P18 ahead of Lance Stroll and Franco Colapinto, but the Alpine driver will move ahead of Stroll due to a one-place penalty for Stroll.

The session was also over for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who squeezed through in P15 but then tagged the wall at the Nouvelle Chicane and suffered terminal damage on his Mercedes, bringing out a late red flag.

There was more drama for Mercedes at the start of Q2 when George Russell reported a loss of power and then ground to a halt in the tunnel with a suspected electrical issue, meaning both Silver Arrows will start in P14 and P15.

After a lengthy red flag to get rid of the stricken Mercedes, Norris led the running ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc, but times continued to tumble rapidly.

The four cars from Ferrari and McLaren continued to trade blows at the top, with Verstappen third until a brilliant last-ditch lap by Albon that put him ahead of the four-time champion.

Albon’s teammate Carlos Sainz was less successful, blaming a lack of grip on the softs as he was pipped to the final Q3 berth by Haas driver Ocon.

Yuki Tsunoda was also out in P12, complaining about impeding from Isack Hadjar, with Nico Hulkenberg and the Mercedes cars eliminated as well.

Sunday’s 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix will be very interesting as there will be a mandatory to run three different sets of tyres, which will force drivers to make two pitstops to open up strategic options. Hopefully this will make the racing exciting as overtaking is very limited.

Monaco Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:09.954
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:10.063
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:10.129
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:10.382
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:10.669
6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:10.923
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:10.924
8 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:10.942
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:11.129
10 Alexander Albon Williams 1:11.213
11 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:11.362
12 Yuki Tsunoda Williams 1:11.415
13 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:11.596
14 George Russell Mercedes 1:11.507
15 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:11.880
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:11.902
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:11.994
18 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:12.597
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:12.563*
20 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:11.979**
*Stroll penalised one grid position for causing a collision during practice.
**Bearman penalised ten grid positions for overtaking under red flags in practice.

Max Verstappen scored his second race victory of this highly competitive Formula 1 season at Imola, finishing ahead of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

This was Red Bull Racing’s 400th race and the key to Super Max’s win was on the opening lap as Verstappen was late on the brakes to pass both George Russell and Oscar Piastri heading into Turn 1 on the first lap.

From second on the grid Verstappen attacked Piastri into the first braking zone of Tamburello, going late on the brakes around the outside to sweep past the championship leader with a brilliant move.

In Verstappen’s wake Piastri decided to stop early for what was expected to be a one-stop race, exchanging his medium tyres for hards on lap 14.

A similarly early pitstop for third-starting George Russell also released Lando Norris into clear air, with the driver 10 seconds behind Verstappen at that stage.

Red Bull’s tyre wear appeared more promising than expected, with Verstappen shipping two to three tenths per lap to the chasing McLaren, which was not enough of a pace difference to worry the leading defending champion.

But the race then received a first plot twist on lap 29 with a virtual safety car for the stricken Haas of Esteban Ocon, who parked up between the Variante Alta and Rivazza.

The VSC situation massively benefitted those who hadn’t pitted yet, including Verstappen. Norris had crucially come in the previous lap, losing out in the process.

As the race went green again on lap 31, Verstappen’s lead had grown to 20 seconds, with Alexander Albon also benefitting to move up to third ahead of Piastri.

Norris was unable to gain back more than two seconds on Verstappen, while Piastri swiftly moved up to third but was already falling over 12 seconds behind his teammate.

The stalemate didn’t last, however, with another pivotal interruption on lap 47 when Andrea Kimi Antonelli retired from eighth position, this time bringing out a full safety car.

Verstappen pitted for a second set of hard tyres, as did Norris. Piastri stayed out, splitting the pair for the final ten lap shootout as the field was released on Lap 54.

On fresher tyres Norris made quick work of his McLaren teammate, but he was unable to stop Verstappen from marching to a second win of the 2025 season, while Piastri settled for third.

On split strategies the Ferraris produced a combative display following a disastrous qualifying session that saw Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton P11 and P12 on the grid.

Both made a good start, but Leclerc looked set to lose out under the first VSC situation, only to then be brought back into the race by staying out under the late safety car.

Leclerc ultimately failed to keep fourth on his older tyres, first shoving Albon off the road into Tamburello, which saw Albon lose out to the pursuing Hamilton as well.

Hamilton did pass Leclerc, who was then told to let Albon through in order to avoid any potential five-second penalty for the earlier incident. The Ferrari driver finished sixth behind the Williams driver.

Russell was another driver to lose out on strategy, although the high tyre wear didn’t help matters as the Mercedes driver started on the mediums he used in qualifying.

Sainz was eighth to complete a double points finish for Williams, followed by Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar. After a violent crash in qualifying, Yuki Tsunoda produced a spirited drive and made a one-stopper work to climb to P10.

Aston Martin was the afternoon’s biggest loser, with both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll dropping out of the points after a tyre gamble which allowed the pair to shine in qualifying, but saw them lacking a crucial set of hard tyres for the safety-car-interrupted event.

So a good, entertaining race at Imola and Piastri remains in the lead of the championship, heading Norris by 13 points and Verstappen by 22.

The Formula 1 paddock now heads down to Monaco for the second part of a European triple-header. Will be interesting if McLaren can strike back at the iconic street circuit.

Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:31:33.199
2 Lando Norris McLaren +6.109s
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren +12.956s
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +14.356s
5 Alexander Albon Williams +17.945s
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +20.774s
7 George Russell Mercedes +22.034s
8 Carlos Sainz Williams +22.898s
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +23.586s
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +26.446s
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +27.250s
12 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +30.296s
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +31.424s
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +32.511s
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +32.993s
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine +33.411s
17 Oliver Bearman Haas +33.808s
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +38.572s
Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes DNF
Esteban Ocon Haas DNF

Oscar Piastri has grabbed his third career pole position for McLaren at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix by taking the P1 away from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Mercedes driver George Russell will start in P3 ahead of Lando Norris.

After the first series of Q3 runs Verstappen led the way with a lap time of one minute, 14.772 seconds, half a tenth up on Piastri and two tenths ahead of Norris.

On his final attempt, championship leader Piastri lost out to Verstappen in sector one, but a better second and third sectors allowed the McLaren driver to set a time of one minute, 14.670 secoinds to provisionally snatch pole away from the world champion, despite a messy final corner.

Verstappen threatened to challenge with a purple first sector but lost too much time in the final two segments and it became a full one-tenth deficit. The Red Bull driver improved second effort was 0.034 seconds shy of pole, with Piastri starting from the front for the third time in 2025.

Meanwhile, Mercedes driver George Russell beat the second McLaren of Lando Norris to third, with Fernando Alonso a sensational fifth for Aston Martin.

Both Aston Martin drivers advanced to Q3 by using Pirelli’s mediums – the C5 compound – which proved sturdier than the newly introduced C6 tyre, which was a handful to keep alive over an entire qualifying lap.

It allowed Alonso to claim his best starting position of what has been a difficult season so far, ahead of Williams duo Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.

Lance Stroll was eighth, with Racing Bulls man Isack Hadjar and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completing the top ten.

Ferrari’s desire to show well at its first of two 2025 races on home ground, and potentially Imola’s Formula 1 farewell weekend, but unfortunately both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were eliminated out in Q2.

Leclerc and Hamilton qualified P11 and P12 respectively after failing to improve on their final flyer with the soft tyres – Leclerc missing the cut by less than a tenth, with Hamilton a further tenth and a half.

On the subject of home race disappointment, Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli also suffered a difficult afternoon, only in P13, followed by Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Colapinto.

Q1 was red-flagged twice for crashes by Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine debutant Franco Colapinto.

With 13 minutes on the clock Tsunoda suffered a violent accident into Turn 5’s fast Villeneuve chicane at the end of the first sector. Tsunoda lost control over his car and spun backwards into the gravel trap, which sent his Red Bull into a barrel roll. Fortunately the Japanese driver was able to jump out unhurt.

The final Q1 runs saw another crash for Franco Colapinto, who replaces Jack Doohan at Alpine from this weekend onwards.

Colapinto dipped onto the grass at the exit of the first corner complex of Tamburello, spinning off and hitting the tyre wall head on at reduced speed. The Alpine driver escaped unhurt, with his accident ending Q1 early.

Colapinto had advanced to Q2 and eventually qualified P15 but will likely get a grid penalty for being released into the pitlane early under the first red flag, with a similar incident in Bahrain costing Mercedes duo Russell and Antonelli a one-place grid drop.

As a result of Colapinto’s accident, Liam Lawson was unable to complete a final flyer, dumping him out in P16. The Racing Bulls man was joined by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Haas duo of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman.

Bearman felt he had completed his final lap before the red flag came out, but following checks by race control his lap time – which would have easily been enough for Q2 – was not reinstated.

So after two red flags, the qualifying session turned out to be exciting and yet the end result was that Oscar Piastri taking pole position for McLaren. With Max Verstappen on the front row, Sunday’s race will be interesting.

Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:14.670
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:14.704
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:14.807
4 Lando Norris McLaren 1:14.962
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:15.431
6 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:15.432
7 Alexander Albon Williams 1:15.473
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:15.581
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:15.746
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:15.787
11 Chalres Leclerc Ferrari 1:15.604
12 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:15.765
13 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:15.772
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:16.260
15 Franco Colapine Alpine 1:16.256
16 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:16.379
17 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:16.518
18 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:16.613
19 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:16.918
20 Yuki Tsuonoda Red Bull No time

Oscar Piastri achieved his three consecutive victory of the season after leading home his McLaren teammate Lando Norris at the Miami Grand Prix.

The championship leader took the lead with a pass on Max Verstappen on lap 14 of 57 and underline his title credentials by winning, with Norris also passing the struggling Red Bull to salvage second after losing out at the start of the race.

Starting alongside Verstappen in second, Norris took the inside into Turn 1, but Verstappen held firm and nudged Norris into the inside Turn 3 runoff, which dropped the McLaren driver back to sixth. “He forced me off, what am I going to do, drive into the wall? I was completely alongside,” Norris complained, but the race stewards decided no action was necessary.

Contact between Jack Doohan and Liam Lawson at Turn 1 brought out the virtual safety car to remove debris, and after the lap 4 restart McLaren’s true pace advantage became true, with fourth-starting Piastri easily clearing Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Norris moving past Russell into fifth.

Piastri started attacking Verstappen for the lead soon enough and got the job done into Turn 1 on lap 14, having been patient around the outside and thereby forcing Verstappen into a mistake locking the front tyres.

Their battle allowed Norris to close and he also got past the defending champion, although he made harder work of it than his teammate. On lap 18 Norris initially passed Verstappen in Turn 7 but forced both cars off, handing the position back.

One lap later Norris sealed the move much earlier on the straight, and swiftly dropped Verstappen as the Red Bull struggled with tyre wear, embarking on a chase on Piastri, who had gained nine seconds thanks to Lando’s battle with Verstappen.

Antonelli and Russell ran third, while being put under pressure by Alex Albon.

The next virtual safety car came out for Oliver Bearman’s stricken Haas after the Ferrari power unit seized, which handed an advantage to those who hadn’t yet made their one and only pitstop.

A quicker pitstop cycled hard-tyre starter Russell out ahead of Verstappen and Antonelli in third, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton also benefitted to make a cheap switch from hards to mediums.

From the lap 30 restart onwards, Piastri comfortably protected his lead against Norris, who shaved off a few seconds but never looked like closing the gap to his teammate. Piastri crossed the finishing line with a 4.630 seconds lead on Norris to take his third consecutive win, with Russell snatching a podium in third.

Verstappen had to settle for fourth in the wake of the Mercedes driver, with Albon securing an excellent fifth for Williams ahead of Antonelli after having looked impressively quick all race.

Hamilton intended to use his quicker medium tyres to chase Antonelli, but was stuck behind hard-tyred team-mate Charles Leclerc for several laps, much to the seven-time world champion’s dismay, before finally being released. But Hamilton ran out of time to catch his Mercedes replacement, which led to Ferrari swapping the positions once more to let Leclerc retake seventh ahead of his annoyed teammate.

Carlos Sainz grabbed ninth for Williams after attempting a late but unsuccessful lunge on Hamilton into the final corner, followed by Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda. Tsunoda received a five-second penalty, added to his race time, for speeding in the pits. However, as he crossed the line 5.1 seconds ahead of Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar, he just about managed to save his point.

Esteban Ocon was a distant P12 after a disappointing race for Haas, with Alpine, Sauber and a woeful Aston Martin outfit also leaving without points.

Gabriel Bortoleto followed Bearman into retirement after the Sauber driver reported crippling power unit issues, while Doohan’s and Lawson’s Turn 1 clash also led to terminal damage for both, bringing the number of retirements to four.

In the drivers’ championship, Piastri’s fourth season win extends his lead on Norris to 16 points. Verstappen now trails Piastri by 32 points in third, with Russell another six points in arrears.

The Formula 1 paddock resumes in two weeks’ time in Imola for what looks set to be the final edition of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix for the foreseeable future.

So a dominant race by McLaren by finishing first and second. Congratulations to Oscar Piastri in achieving his third consecutive win. He looks the favourite for the championship by this consistent race results.

Miami Grand Prix, race results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:28:51.587
2 Lando Norris McLaren +4.630s
3 George Russell Mercedes +37.644s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull +39.956s
5 Alexander Albon Williams +48.067s
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +55.502s
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +57.036s
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +60.186s
9 Carlos Sainz Williams +60.577s
10 Yuki Tsuonda Red Bull +74.434s
11 Isack Tsunoda +74.602s
12 Esteban Ocon Haas +82.006s
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +90.445s
14 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +1 lap
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +1 lap
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap
Liam Lawson Red Bull DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF
Oliver Bearman Haas DNF
Jack Doohan Alpine DNF

Defending world champion Max Verstappen will start the Miami Grand Prix on pole position after defeating Lando Norris by a small margin of 0.065 seconds.

The Red Bull driver achieved his 43rd career pole in Formula 1. Andrea Kimi Antonelli continues to impress for Mercedes by being third fastest and edging ahead of Oscar Piastri.

In Q3 Verstappen set provisional pole with a lap of one minute, 26.492 seconds, just thousandths ahead of Norris and Piastri, which had more to do with neither McLaren driver finding gains rather than any Super Max heroics.

But Verstappen produced his magic to find the fastest time across the session, a lap time of one minute, 26.204 seconds, which was enough to fend off a late improvement by Norris, who appeared to lose his pole opportunity by bouncing over the inside kerb in the final corner.

What is more remarkable, Max made a mistake into Turn 1 on his final Q3 run and yet was able to set quality sector times despite the error. To take pole position is a fantastic achievement.

Russell was fifth for Mercedes ahead of excellent Williams duo Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc a low-key eighth position. Haas driver Esteban Ocon excelled to grab ninth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the Red Bull.

Piastri led the running in Q2 by two tenths over teammate Norris. Before the final attempt Russell found himself in the drop zone – despite on used tyres – declaring he had no confidence in his Mercedes, but his second lap was more than good enough to go through.

The same cannot be said of Lewis Hamilton, whose second lap was worse than his first, dropping the Ferrari driver out in P12 just 0.039 seconds off P10. Hadjar missed the cut by a mere 0.020 seconds in P11, while Gabriel Bortoleto took an encouraging P13 for Sauber.

Jack Doohan was the best of the Alpines in P14, followed by a disappointing P15 for Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson who suffered from a battery problem.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg just missed the cut in P16, ahead of Fernando Alonso, whose Aston Martin was repaired in time after his sprint race crash. Gasly was P18, ruing traffic on his final lap, with Lance Stroll and Oliver Bearman also eliminated.

So a better outcome for the four-time world champion after a time penalty and no points in the sprint race earlier. Max Verstappen achieved an important pole position in qualifying. Going to be interesting if the Red Bull has the race pace next.

Miami Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:26.204
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:26.269
3 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:26.271
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:26.375
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:26.385
6 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:26.569
7 Alexander Albon Williams 1:26.682
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:26.754
9 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:26.824
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:26.943
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:26.987
12 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:27.006
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:27.151
14 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:27.422
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:27.363
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:27.473
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:27.604
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:27.710
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:27.830
20 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:27.999

McLaren driver Lando Norris was victorious in a chaotic wet-to-dry Miami Grand Prix sprint race, finishing ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

The Saturday afternoon sprint was reduced from 19 to 18 laps due to the wet weather conditions, two of which were completed behind the safety car after a delayed starting procedure due to the lack of visibility.

After a 28-minute delay the race took place under a standing start, with maiden sprint polesitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli attempting to defend his lead from McLaren’s Piastri, with Lando Norris and Max Verstappen on the second row.

But as Piastri dived down the inside into Turn 1, Antonelli went off the track, dropping to fourth behind Norris and Verstappen, and just ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell.

From the front championship leader Piastri managed to control the race in relative comfort, taking care of his intermediate tyres while a dry racing line slowly but surely emerged. Norris started putting pressure on Piastri as they dispatched third-placed Verstappen in the Red Bull.

Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, who had started from the back, was the first to gamble for slicks on lap 11, providing valuable information to the rest of the field as they monitored Yuki’s lap times on medium Pirellis.

Having been lacking pace on inters, Lewis Hamilton was one of several cars to follow Tsunoda into the pits the following lap despite only six laps left to benefit from them, but their rapid race pace soon showed it was a gamble worth taking, with Hamilton moving up the order.

Verstappen and Antonelli both pitted for slicks on lap 13, but the pair made contact as the world champion was released unsafely into the path of Antonelli. Verstappen caught damage on his front wing, while Antonelli was forced to drive through without stopping in his box.

Hamilton’s searing soft-tyre pace also forced Piastri and then Norris to react by pitting for mediums, while a Fernando Alonso crash after contact with Liam Lawson caused a safety car.

Crucially, Norris just emerged from the pits ahead of Piastri, handing the McLaren driver the lead behind the safety car ahead of Piastri and Hamilton, who had passed Verstappen’s damaged Red Bull.

Verstappen was then handed a ten-second penalty for an unsafe release, which demoted him to down to P16.

Albon moved up to finish fourth for Williams ahead of Russell, with Lance Stroll taking a strong sixth for Aston Martin. Lawson was seventh for Racing Bulls after rocketing into the top ten at the start from his P15 grid spot, while Oliver Bearman took the final point in eighth for Haas.

After his contact with Verstappen, Antonelli had to come into the pits once again to take medium tyres, bumping him out of the points in P10.

Charles Leclerc was unable to make the start after crashing out on the way to the grid, aquaplaning off the road in his Ferrari while on intermediate tyres.

By defeating Piastri in the sprint, Norris reduces his championship deficit from ten to nine points.

So an eventful sprint race in Miami. Lando Norris gaining track position by pitting just as the safety car made an appearance. The same situation that occurred at last year’s race in which Lando scored his first win.

Miami Grand Prix, sprint race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 36:37.647
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.672s
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +1.073s
4 Alex Albon Williams +2.522s
5 George Russell Mercedes +3.127s
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +3.412s
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +4.024s
8 Oliver Bearman Haas +4.218s
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +5.153s
10 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +5.635s
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine +5.973s
12 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +6.153s
13 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +7.502
14 Esteban Ocon Haas +8.998s
15 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +9.675s
16 Jack Doohan Alpine +9.909s
17 Max Verstappen Red Bull +12.059s*
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF
Carlos Sainz Williams DNF
Charles Leclerc Ferrari DNS
*Ten-second time penalty for unsafe release in the pits

Andrea Kimi Antonelli achieves his first career pole position in Formula 1 by taking the top spot for the sprint race at Miami. The Mercedes driver took a surprising P1 after beating the favourites McLaren. The Papaya pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris had to settle for second and third.

Antonelli had looked quick throughout Friday afternoon’s sprint qualifying session and his late run to pole was enough to withstand a final run attempt by McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who qualified 0.045 seconds and 0.100 seconds behind respectively.

A thrilling conclusion to SQ3 saw the name at the top of the timesheets change more than once, with Max Verstappen initially beating George Russell’s benchmark – only for Antonelli to come through with an effort a time of one minute, 26.482 seconds.

Oscar Piastri fell short by just 0.045 seconds, while McLaren teammate Lando Norris had to settle for third ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull in fourth. Russell, meanwhile, will start from fifth, the Mercedes driver having set his SQ3 lap early in the segment.

The Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will start from P6 and P7 respectively, followed by the Williams of Alex Albon in P8, Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls in P9 and Fernando Alonso for Aston Martin in P10.

Nico Hulkenberg will start P11 for Sauber ahead of Esteban Ocon’s Haas and Pierre Gasly. His Alpine teammate Jack Doohan was eliminated in SQ2 following a pitlane incident which proved to be awkward moment for the Enstone-based outfit.

The Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson is P14 while Carlos Sainz suffered a massive brake lockup and was unable to set a lap time in the Williams so will by in P15. Lance Stroll is P16 ahead of the unlucky Jack Doohan and Yuki Tsunoda. The latter making mistakes in the sprint qualifying for Red Bull.

Gabriel Bortoleto and Oliver Bearman are on the final row of the sprint race for Sauber and Haas respectively.

So congratulations to Kimi Antonelli in becoming the youngest polesitter ever – in any race format – in Formula 1. Going to be interesting if the Mercedes can achieve his first victory in the sprint race next.

Miami Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:26.482
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:26.527
3 Lando Norris McLaren 1:26.582
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:26.737
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:26.791
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:26.808
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:27.030
8 Alexander Albon Williams 1:27.193
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:27.543
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:27.790
11 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:27.850
12 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:28.070
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:28.167
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:28.375
15 Carlos Sainz Williams No time
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:29.028
17 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:29.171
18 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:29.246
19 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:29.312
20 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:29.825