Lando Norris lucked in to end McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri’s winning run in a chaotic wet-dry Miami GP Sprint which also saw Lewis Hamilton finish third and Max Verstappen demoted out of the points for a pit-lane collision with polesitter Kimi Antonelli.
After the start of the short-form race had been delayed by 30 minutes after several unexpected big rain showers at the Miami International Autodrome, what turned into a reduced 16-lap Sprint proved a cracker from start to finish.
Norris ended up victorious after benefitting from the timing of a late Safety Car for a crash for Fernando Alonso with three laps to go.
Piastri had ceded the lead to Norris after pitting for dry tyres at the end of lap 14 but, with the Australian back on track and having to run to a controlled speed due to Alonso’s accident, Norris lost less time than he would have otherwise done in the pits and so was able to make his stop and re-emerge back on track still ahead of the sister car.
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Watch the moment Lando Norris won the Miami GP Sprint in a chaotic conclusion after Fernando Alonso crashed into the wall, causing a safety car
It comes a year after another fortuitous Safety Car helped Norris to jump Verstappen and win his maiden Grand Prix at the same circuit. With so much debris on track, the race finished under the same controlled conditions.
The Briton reduces Piastri’s title lead by one point to nine ahead of Sunday’s main Grand Prix.
Hamilton had been one of the first drivers to switch to slicks and his race was transformed by the strategy, jumping from a struggling sixth to what became third for his second Sprint podium of his Ferrari career after his win in China.
“It was my call [to pit]. But it was coming from the fact I was struggling so much on the intermediates,” he told Sky Sports. “I was losing pace and I couldn’t keep up with the guys ahead.”
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Charles Leclerc was caught in heavy rain and crashed into the wall before the Sprint started at the Miami Grand Prix
But team-mate Charles Leclerc did not even take the start of the race after crashing out when the heavens opened on his lap to the original grid.
Ferrari had sent both of their cars out on track on the intermediate tyres but the grip offered by that compound proved wholly insufficient just as the most intense rain arrived, with Leclerc a passenger as he aquaplaned into the barrier.
World champion Verstappen also failed to score points for the first time this year, finishing 17th and last after receiving a 10-second penalty when the Dutchman’s car was released from its pit stop by Red Bull’s into the path of Antonelli’s oncoming Mercedes.
The two cars made contact, with the Red Bull suffering a broken front wing and Antonelli forced to continue on down the pit lane and therefore missing his scheduled stop. He eventually finished 10th, although was later classified in seventh.
Post-Sprint penalties shuffle points places
Underlining the chaotic nature of the Sprint, three drivers who originally finished in the top-eight points-paying positions received costly post-race penalties from stewards.
Given the race had finished with the field bunched up behind the Safety Car, the three penalties proved especially costly for the drivers concerned as they all dropped out of the points places.
Alex Albon had finished a fine fourth for resurgent Williams but was handed a five-second sanction for running too fast behind the Safety Car.
Mercedes’ George Russell and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll moved up one place apiece as a result to fourth and fifth respectively.
Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson was also handed a five-second penalty for tipping Alonso into the spin that caused the Safety Car, costing the New Zealander what had been seventh. And Oliver Bearman, who had raced from 19th to eighth, lost eighth after receiving his own five-second demotion after an unsafe pits release by his Haas team.
Antonelli was therefore classified seventh, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly taking the final point in eighth.
‘I won’t be buying lottery tickets at this place’ – Piastri rues late misfortune
It had appeared likely that Piastri was going to head into the evening’s main qualifying session having increased his title advantage over Norris by one further point, rather than losing one for the Briton, for most of the absorbing Sprint contest after he had seized the lead from Antonelli at the start.
The way Piastri got ahead of the Mercedes rookie was reminiscent of his move on world champion Verstappen two weeks beforehand at the start of the Saudi Arabian GP, the Australian coming from second on the grid to hold the inside line for the first corner with his opponent running off track.
But this time Piastri left the first turn ahead on the road too with the nature of the run-off area in Miami instead sending Antonelli wide instead of straight across the corner, losing the Italian further places to Norris and Verstappen too.
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Kimi Antonelli gets pushed wide and loses the lead to Oscar Piastri in the Sprint at the Miami GP
Antonelli complained over team radio that Piastri had forced him off, however Race Control did not agree with that assessment and took no further action against the McLaren driver.
On intermediate tyres, Piastri initially opened a comfortable lead of around two seconds on Norris before the sister McLaren started coming back at him into the closing six laps as the track dried and rivals behind started to make the switch to slicks.
As their lead car, Piastri got preference when McLaren eventually made the change themselves on lap 14 but the appearance of the Safety Car on the next lap – when Alonso was sent spinning into the barriers by Lawson – inadvertently handed the pit-stop advantage to Norris.
“I don’t think I will be buying any lottery tickets at this place!” rued a frustrated Piastri after on team radio after finishing second.
Speaking in his post-Sprint interview, the Australian then said: “I did pretty much everything right. A bit disappointed to come away with second but that’s how it goes sometimes. Racing is a pretty cruel business.
“Hopefully that means I get a bit of luck this afternoon in qualifying and tomorrow.”
Norris, by contrast, was happy to take another slice of good fortune in Miami.
“My luck in Miami seems pretty good at the minute, so I’m happy,” he said. 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.”
Verstappen loses costly points in title race after Red Bull blunder
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Max Verstappen says he felt relieved that no one was injured during their pit-stop blunder which saw the Red Bull driver released unsafely into the path of Kimi Antonelli.
Verstappen was running behind the McLarens in third when he made what proved his ill-fated visit to the pit lane to switch to slicks on lap 13.
“It was a human error. We will learn from it,” said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner after the Dutchman had been released too early from his pit box and collided with Antonelli.
Verstappen, who was overtaken by Hamilton on his return to the track due to the damaged front wing, crossed the line in fourth place before the 10s sanction imposed for the incident relegated him all the way to back of the condensed Safety Car-controlled field.
“We all don’t want that to happen, but it happened,” he said. “It’s something we need to investigate but I’m just happy no one got injured. With these cars if you hit someone, it’s not great.
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Kimi Antonelli admitted he was a bit annoyed about the lap one incident, which saw him go wide and lose the lead during the Miami Grand Prix Sprint.
“It’s super clear what happened, so there’s not much more for me to add.”
Verstappen’s loss of five points for fourth mean he drops 19 points behind Piastri in the standings ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Sky Sports F1’s Miami GP schedule
Saturday May 3
- 8.35pm: Miami GP Qualifying build-up*
- 9.15pm: MIAMI GP QUALIFYING*
- 11pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*
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The Miami Grand Prix is a unique experience, watch our favourite moments from the last few years!
Sunday May 4
- 6pm: F1 Academy Race 2
- 7.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Miami GP build-up*
- 9pm: THE MIAMI GRAND PRIX*
- 11pm: Chequered Flag: Miami GP reaction*
- Midnight: Ted’s Notebook
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 is in Miami for a Sprint weekend, watch it all live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
