
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