Lando Norris claimed victory in a chaotic sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix, finishing ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari`s Lewis Hamilton.
Norris`s win was significantly aided by a well-timed safety car period. It was deployed just as he exited the pits, having switched from intermediate wet tyres to slicks. This timing proved fortunate for Norris but disadvantaged his teammate Piastri, who had taken the lead early from Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Turn 1, forcing him to slow down at a crucial moment as he neared the finish line with only four laps remaining.
The win provides a substantial morale boost for Norris, especially after losing the championship lead to Piastri at the previous race in Saudi Arabia two weeks prior.
“My luck in Miami seems pretty good at the minute, so I`m happy,” Norris commented after the race.
Regarding the safety car advantage, he added: “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.”
Lando Norris won the race under safety car.
Meanwhile, Piastri expressed his frustration over the team radio: “I don`t think I will be buying any lottery tickets at this place.”
Piastri can take comfort from the fact that, under the sprint format rules, he only lost one point from his 10-point championship lead over the British driver.
After the race, the Australian reflected that racing is a “pretty cruel business.”
“I did pretty much everything right. A bit disappointed to come away with second but that`s how it goes sometimes,” he said. “Hopefully that means I get a bit of luck this afternoon in qualifying and tomorrow.
“But, another great start and I had to get my elbows out in that one. Happy with what I did.”
Hamilton also secured a much-needed return to the podium for Ferrari, thanks to a brilliantly timed early pit stop for dry tires. A pre-race rain shower had caught out Hamilton`s teammate, Charles Leclerc, who unfortunately crashed on the way to the grid and was unable to start the race.
An overjoyed Hamilton said afterwards: “I`m so happy with that! It`s been a tough year so far, but to have… I never thought it was going to rain in Miami. It was the first time that we`ve all been on track in the wet here, and what a race it provided us.”
Hamilton started seventh and initially struggled on intermediate tires. He pitted on Lap 12 for soft tires as the track began to dry and rapidly climbed up the order as a result, similar to Aston Martin`s Lance Stroll who made the same strategic call. “Great job in the pits, guys,” Hamilton radioed to Ferrari late in the race. “Mega job.”
The rapidly changing conditions led to significant chaos, particularly for Mercedes` young talent Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who had secured pole position for the F1 event on Friday evening, making him the youngest pole-sitter.
Antonelli ran wide at Turn 1 after Piastri`s strong start, dropping him to fourth. “He pushed me off,” the Italian protested after the move, but stewards deemed no further action was required. “Normal Turn 1,” Antonelli`s race engineer, Peter Bonnington, later informed him, to which Antonelli replied: “Good to know.”
Antonelli`s race fortunes worsened as the pit stops commenced. As he approached the Mercedes pit box to switch from wet to dry tires, Red Bull released Max Verstappen from his adjacent pit box at the same moment.
Verstappen`s car made contact with Antonelli`s as he exited, causing the teenager to miss his pit box and effectively forcing him to loop around before finally making his stop for wet tires.
This incident dropped him out of the points positions. When Antonelli expressed his frustration over the radio, team boss Toto Wolff reassured him: “Kimi, mini race, not relevant.”
Verstappen received a 10-second penalty for the collision, judged by stewards as an unsafe release, which relegated him to 17th position.
The safety car was deployed shortly after this incident, triggered when Liam Lawson drove into the path of Fernando Alonso, causing Alonso to spin and hit the wall.
Lawson initially finished seventh but was later given a five-second penalty, dropping him to 13th. Similarly, Alex Albon achieved an impressive fourth place for Williams, ahead of Mercedes` George Russell and Stroll, but he too dropped to 11th after receiving a five-second penalty for time infringements under the safety car period.
Haas` Oliver Bearman continued his solid performance, finishing eighth (which would likely become seventh after penalties), while Yuki Tsunoda was positioned well in ninth place to benefit from Lawson`s penalty.
Unlike the main Grand Prix race on Sunday, points in the sprint format are only awarded to the top eight finishers.
The Miami Grand Prix weekend continues with the main qualifying session on Saturday afternoon.
