Norris wins chaotic Miami Sprint ahead of Piastri

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 initially 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.

However, following the Sprint it was confirmed that Albon, Lawson and Bearman had all dropped out of the points, with the Thai racer handed a five-second time penalty for not staying above the minimum time behind the Safety Car while Lawson received the same punishment for causing a collision with Alonso.

Bearman was also hit with a five-second penalty for an unsafe release from the pits, with these changes promoting Russell to fourth and Stroll to fifth while Yuki Tsunoda, Antonelli and Pierre Gasly moved up into sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.

Following just one practice session on Friday, Sprint Qualifying took place later in the day to decide the grid for the 100km dash, in which points would be awarded to the top eight finishers from a maximum of eight for P1 down to one for P8.

The closing moments of SQ3 provided a thrilling sequence of events as Antonelli put together a stunning lap to claim his maiden pole position, the 18-year-old becoming F1’s youngest-ever polesitter in the process as he held off the McLarens of Piastri and Norris.

Ahead of the Sprint getting underway, one change was confirmed to the grid as Yuki Tsunoda – who ended a challenging Sprint Qualifying in P18 – would start from the pit lane due to the set-up of the suspension on his Red Bull being changed under parc ferme conditions.

But there was further drama to come as torrential rain hit the Miami International Autodrome with the start time approaching – leading to Leclerc suffering a premature exit from the Sprint when he slid into the walls en route to the grid, putting him out of the event before it had even begun.

Given the unpredictable nature of the conditions – with the rain having stopped prior to the 19-lap encounter starting – question marks remained over which tyre the pack would be starting on at the damp track.

And when the tyre blankets were removed ahead of the formation lap – which would take place behind the Safety Car – it was revealed that everybody had bolted on the intermediate tyres, with the exception of Carlos Sainz on the full wets.

With plenty of spray being kicked up as the formation lap ensued, Antonelli and Piastri reported struggles with visibility in the conditions while replays showed Max Verstappen going wide. The Safety Car remained out on track to lead the field around – before a red flag was thrown, resulting in all 19 cars returning to the pit lane and parking in the fast lane.

After that pause in the action – during which the conditions looked to have improved, while Sainz made the switch from the wets to the intermediate tyres – it was announced that the Sprint would now get underway at 1228 local time. The Safety Car again led the drivers out for another formation lap in preparation for a standing start on the much more raceable track.

As the lights went out for the remaining 15 laps of racing – with the formation laps having added towards the count – Antonelli struggled to launch as well as Piastri, with the pair going into Turn 1 side-by-side before Piastri held the inside line to take the lead while Antonelli went wide, dropping down behind Norris and Verstappen in the process.

The Mercedes driver took to the team radio to suggest that he had been pushed off the track, just as Piastri began to build an early advantage from team mate Norris. Elsewhere Alonso – still looking for his first points of the season – had enjoyed a strong start to move from P10 to P8, with Lawson also making gains in P9 after starting from P14.

“It is drying very quickly,” Piastri reported, having now extended his lead to 1.7s – and while his first corner incident with Antonelli was noted by Race Control, it was then deemed that no investigation was necessary.

Another driver potentially under scrutiny, though, was Verstappen, having been noted for a false start for being out of position – before this also was dismissed as requiring no further action. As Lap 8 ticked down, Piastri was leading from Norris, Verstappen, Antonelli, Russell, Hamilton, Albon and Alonso.

It looked like an intra-team battle could be on the cards at Mercedes, with Russell rapidly closing in on Antonelli in the fight for fourth place. There was also plenty of action a little further back as Albon chased down Hamilton in a scrap for sixth, the Williams driver being followed by Alonso in the process.

By Lap 11, questions were arising over whether anybody would gamble on a switch to the slick tyres – and Tsunoda became the first to make a move, diving into the pits for a set of used mediums to reemerge at the rear of the field.

Hamilton – who had been struggling for grip out on track – became the next to switch to slicks by bolting on the softs, with Stroll and Sainz soon following suit for mediums.

A flurry of action then ensued as Verstappen and Antonelli pitted – only for contact to occur between them as Red Bull released their driver just as the Mercedes man tried to pull into his box, resulting in debris scattering across the pit lane while the Italian was forced to continue on to the pit exit.

Back on track, Sainz suffered a sudden puncture, forcing him to return to the pits to retire. Piastri, meanwhile, made a stop on Lap 14 for the mediums, leaving Norris out in the lead. It was not all smooth sailing for the Briton, though, who reported debris out on track following Sainz’s issues, with replays showing that the Williams driver spun and clipped the wall.

Norris subsequently pitted on Lap 15 – just as the Safety Car was called following a heavy crash for Alonso, meaning that last year’s Miami Grand Prix winner was able to reemerge as race leader ahead of Piastri, Hamilton, Verstappen – under investigation for that potential unsafe release in the pit lane – Albon, Russell, Stroll and Lawson.

It was soon confirmed that Verstappen had received a 10-second time penalty, while replays showed that Alonso had been tagged by Lawson, which triggered a spin into the barriers, another incident that had been noted by Race Control and would be investigated after the Sprint.

As the Safety Car remained out on track for the final laps, Norris ultimately crossed the line in P1 to take the Sprint victory ahead of Piastri, marking the Briton’s first win since his triumph at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

With that penalty for Verstappen dropping the Dutchman down to the bottom of the order, Hamilton followed the McLaren pair in third, a solid result for the sole Ferrari in the event, while Albon took fourth for Williams, though the Thai driver was noted for a Safety Car infringement that will be looked at later.

Russell was fifth from Stroll, with Lawson – another driver who was set to be investigated post-Sprint for that Alonso collision – and Bearman making up the top eight, before those aforementioned penalties dropped Albon, Lawson and Bearman out of the points, thus promoting Tsunoda, Antonelli and Gasly.