Lando Norris claimed victory in a chaotic sprint race held in Miami. He finished ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, with Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari securing third place.
Norris gained the lead over Piastri due to a stroke of luck with the safety car timing. It was deployed just as he exited the pits after switching from intermediate wet tires to slick tires. This timing forced Piastri, who had taken the lead from Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Turn 1 with an assertive move, to slow significantly as he neared the start-finish line with only four laps remaining.
The win provides a significant morale boost for Norris, who had lost the championship lead to Piastri at the previous race in Saudi Arabia.
“My luck in Miami seems pretty good at the minute, so I`m happy,” Norris commented after the race.
Regarding the safety car timing, 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.”
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 in the fact that, under the sprint format rules, he only lost one point from his 10-point championship lead over Norris.
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,” he concluded.
Hamilton`s third-place finish marked a welcome return to the podium for Ferrari, achieved thanks to a brilliantly timed early stop for dry tires. A pre-race rain shower complicated matters, leading to Hamilton`s teammate, Charles Leclerc, crashing on the way to the grid and consequently failing to start the race.
An elated 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 made a crucial stop on Lap 12 for soft tires as the track began to dry, roaring up the order as a result. Lance Stroll of Aston Martin also benefited significantly from making the same call. “Great job in the pits, guys,” Hamilton praised his Ferrari team over the radio late in the race. “Mega job.”
The constantly changing conditions led to considerable chaos, particularly affecting Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who had set the fastest time in Friday`s session, effectively taking pole for the sprint.
Antonelli ran wide at Turn 1 following Piastri`s strong start and dropped to fourth. “He pushed me off,” the Italian driver reported, but the stewards ruled it a normal racing incident, taking no further action. “Normal Turn 1,” Antonelli`s race engineer, Peter Bonnington, later confirmed, to which Antonelli replied: “Good to know.”
Antonelli`s race further unraveled during the pit stop phase. As he approached the Mercedes pit box to switch from wet to dry tires, Red Bull unexpectedly released Max Verstappen from his adjacent pit box at the same moment.
Verstappen`s car made contact with Antonelli`s as he exited, forcing the teenager to miss his intended pit slot and effectively costing him significant time before he could make his stop.
This incident dropped Antonelli out of the points. When he voiced his frustration over the radio, team principal Toto Wolff reassured him: “Kimi, mini race, not relevant.”
Verstappen was subsequently given a 10-second penalty for the collision, deemed an unsafe release by the stewards, which dropped him to 17th position in the final classification.
The safety car was deployed shortly after this, triggered when Liam Lawson drove into the path of Fernando Alonso, causing the latter to spin out and hit the wall.
Lawson initially finished seventh but was later handed a five-second penalty, dropping him to 13th. Similarly, Alex Albon achieved an impressive fourth place for Williams, ahead of Mercedes` George Russell and Lance Stroll, but fell to 11th after receiving a five-second penalty for time infringements under the safety car.
Haas driver Oliver Bearman continued his strong performances, finishing eighth (likely promoted to seventh after penalties), while Yuki Tsunoda placed himself in a good position in ninth, ready to capitalize on Lawson`s penalty.
Unlike the main Grand Prix on Sunday, points in the sprint format are only awarded to the top eight finishers.
The Miami Grand Prix weekend continues with qualifying for the main race on Saturday afternoon.
Rupert Caldwell 
Tristan Blackwood