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
Lando Norris emerged as the winner in a dramatic Sprint at the Miami Grand Prix, with the Briton making a perfectly timed pit stop during a late Safety Car period to hold the lead to the end ahead of McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri.
Heavy rain had fallen at the Miami International Autodrome prior to the event getting underway, with the conditions catching out Charles Leclerc who crashed en route to the grid, putting him out of the running before the Sprint had started. And with visibility proving challenging when the formation lap began, the red flags were subsequently thrown.
When the Sprint eventually got underway in improved conditions, polesitter Kimi Antonelli lost out at the start to Piastri, the McLaren man holding the inside line at Turn 1 to move ahead while Antonelli suffered a wide moment and slipped down to fourth.
And while Piastri held a steady lead for several laps – amid various drivers pitting for slick tyres in the changing conditions – a chaotic sequence of events later in proceedings saw Norris become the new leader after Piastri pitted, a position the Briton held onto as he made his own stop just as the Safety Car was called following a crash for Fernando Alonso.
With Norris leading home Piastri for a McLaren 1-2, Lewis Hamilton took third place after pitting early in a solid strategy call from Ferrari, while Williams’ Alex Albon was fourth ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Haas’ Ollie Bearman in the rest of the points-paying positions, though both Lawson and Albon are set to be investigated by the stewards for separate incidents after the Sprint.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/norris-wins-chaotic-miami-sprint-from-piastri-and-hamilton-after-late-safety.3BuF89LkPN0p4bsqA2YyDm
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri feels he did “everything right” after ceding the F1 Miami GP sprint win to Lando Norris due to a late safety car intervention.
After muscling past Mercedes’ surprise sprint polesitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the start, Piastri led the way from Norris on a drying track, with the pair easily keeping Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at arm’s length.
In the latter stages of the 18-lap race, Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s stop to the faster slick tyres started putting pressure on the leading McLaren pair to follow suit, with Piastri first to come in followed by Norris.
Piastri’s earlier stop to slicks would have normally safeguarded his position, but as Norris pitted the safety car came out for Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who was nudged into a crash by Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson.
With Piastri forced to reduce speed, Norris emerged ahead to snatch the sprint win as the race ended behind the safety car.
Afterwards Piastri rued his luck as he missed out on an opportunity to keep his winning streak going following back-to-back grand prix victories in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
“I feel like I did pretty much everything right there, so obviously a bit disappointed to come away with second,” the Australian said.
“But that’s how it goes sometimes. Unfortunately, racing is a pretty cruel business. Hopefully that means I’ve got a bit of luck for this afternoon and tomorrow. It was another great start and I had to get my elbows out on that one.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/oscar-piastri-rues-bad-luck-f1-miami-sprint-win/10719353/
Charles Leclerc crashed out on his way to the grid for a rain-soaked Miami Grand Prix sprint race, with the Ferrari driver complaining of aquaplaning.
The incident led to Leclerc damaging his tyres and leaving debris on the track; his team-mate Lewis Hamilton complained over the radio that the team had sent both drivers out on the intermediate compound.
“I’m so sorry,” Leclerc said over team radio, having explained he had hit the wall after “complete aquaplaning” left him as a passenger in his own Ferrari. He was supposed to start from sixth on the grid.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/charles-leclerc-out-of-miami-f1-sprint-after-pre-race-shunt/10719303/
Lando Norris has praised his “good luck” in Miami, after capturing the Formula 1 sprint race win thanks to a well-timed safety car – echoing his 2024 grand prix victory at the circuit.
Norris had closed in on McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri having initially dropped back by over three seconds, but was able to save life in his intermediate tyres to put the Australian’s grasp of the race under scrutiny.
At this stage, it had become apparent that the circuit was ripe for a switch to slicks; Piastri got priority owing to his race lead, as McLaren left Norris out for one more lap to avoid losing time by double-stacking in the pitlane.
This proved to be the clincher, as Norris took his stop just as Fernando Alonso had been tagged into a spin by Liam Lawson at Turn 12. This forced Piastri to back off, ensuring Norris could exit the pitlane ahead. As the race remained under the safety car to clear up Alonso’s stricken Aston Martin, Norris’ lead was unchallenged.
Norris took his first F1 win in Miami last year having also caught a safety car at the right time, which put him ahead of Max Verstappen on track.
“My luck in Miami seems pretty good at the minute, so I’m happy,” Norris said after the race. “But the pace was still very good.
“It’s always just difficult, these races, you never know when to box. Do you box early? It paid off for Lewis and he had a good strategy. Or do you stay out later and maybe get the safety car, you know? So it’s worked two years in a row.
“I probably would prefer if this happened tomorrow rather than today, but I’ll take it. I’m happy. Good job by the team; it was good fun!”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/norris-praises-good-luck-in-miami-with-f1-sprint-win-over-piastri/10719371/
Yuki Tsunoda was promoted from ninth to sixth in the results of F1’s Miami sprint race following penalties for Alex Albon, Liam Lawson and Oliver Bearman, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Pierre Gasly also cycling into points-paying positions once the race concluded.
On lap 14 of the 18-lap wet-to-dry contest, Racing Bulls driver Lawson made contact with the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso while attempting to overtake the Spaniard in the fight for eighth. Lawson planted his car around the outside at Turn 11, which would become the inside line for the right-hand Turn 12 switchback.
While side-by-side, Alonso followed the natural line towards the apex of Turn 12, while Lawson persisted with the move halfway into the runoff area. The New Zealander’s front-left tagged Alonso’s right-rear, sending the two-time world champion into the barriers at relatively low speeds.
While driving behind the safety car in the aftermath, Lawson felt he was not to blame for the collision because he was ahead at the apex, something that his race engineer backed him up with.
Alonso remained calm before jumping out of his mangled Aston Martin, but clearly had a different opinion, saying he “knew” the clash with Lawson was going to happen. An intriguing, neutral view came from Haas driver Oliver Bearman, who was closely chasing the pair. “Typical Lawson,” he said.
Commenting further on the Alonso clash, Lawson explained: “He came out on cold tyres and I’d done a lap, so I was trying to get by him early in the lap. I waited for DRS, made sure to get my wheels ahead at the apex when I’m trying to overtake. And I feel I did that and then I got squeezed off. So, at that point, honestly, I was heading for the concrete wall, and I was trying to get out, but he just kind of left me no space. So, obviously not my intention, but I do feel like I had my wheels ahead.”
However, the FIA’s race stewards have sided with Alonso by handing Lawson a five-second penalty, which means he loses his seventh-place finish. The 23-year-old also receives his sixth penalty point over the past 12-month period.
“Car 30 was attempting an overtake on the outside of Car 14 into Turn 11. Although being able to pull fully alongside, the front axle of Car 30 was not ahead of the front axle of Car 14 at the apex as required per the driving standards guidelines,” said the stewards.
“Therefore Car 30 was not entitled to be given room at the exit. Due to the layout of the track, the car which has the right to the racing line in Turn 11 also has the right to the racing line in Turn 12. Car 30 drove to the very edge of the track between Turns 11 and 12 and collided with Car 14 on the approach to Turn 12.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/yuki-tsunoda-and-kimi-antonelli-among-drivers-promoted-to-f1-miami-sprint-points-after-penalties/10719477/