Lando Norris seized a crucial opportunity during a late-race safety car period, allowing him to overtake his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and secure an exhilarating victory in the Miami Sprint, marked by unpredictable wet and dry conditions.
The race commenced nearly 30 minutes later than scheduled due to a heavy downpour that soaked the circuit in the hour and a half leading up to the original start time. The situation escalated when Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari while making his way to the grid, prompting the deployment of a safety car for two formation laps. However, the race was soon interrupted by a red flag due to poor visibility caused by the rain.
Oscar Piastri communicated to his team that the visibility was the worst he had ever experienced in a race car, just before the cars were sent back to the pit lane to wait for the rain to let up. After a 28-minute delay, race control allowed two more formation laps behind the safety car, which counted towards the 18-lap race distance, before the cars were set for a standing start on intermediate tires.
Piastri had a slight edge at the start, reacting marginally quicker than his rival, Antonelli, and successfully maneuvering into the lead as they approached the first corner. However, Antonelli attempted to reclaim his position, resulting in him slipping off the track and losing valuable ground, which saw him drop to fourth place. Antonelli later radioed his team, claiming he had been pushed off the track, but the stewards opted not to investigate the incident. Consequently, Piastri took the lead, maintaining a 1.5-second gap over Norris by the end of the first lap, which extended to 3 seconds by the halfway mark of the sprint.
As the race progressed, the circuit began to dry out, prompting Red Bull Racing to bring Yuki Tsunoda into the pit lane for a set of medium tires, given that he was running in 17th and had little to lose. Lewis Hamilton soon followed suit, making a strategic pit stop from sixth place, which led to a frenzy in the pit lane as the entire field rushed to switch to dry tires as the track conditions improved.
In the midst of this chaos, Max Verstappen was released from his pit box into Antonelli’s path, resulting in damage to his front wing and a subsequent 10-second penalty. Antonelli, who was in the process of entering his own pit box, was forced to veer back into the fast lane and pit again on the next lap, which ultimately dropped him out of the points.
McLaren chose not to pit immediately, which worked to Norris’s advantage as he began to close the gap to Piastri, reducing it to nearly nothing by lap 12. Piastri was then called into the pits for a switch to medium tires, seemingly maintaining his lead as the majority of the field transitioned to slicks.
Norris, however, had to wait an additional lap before making his tire change. Just as he entered the pit lane, fortune smiled upon him once more, as a safety car was initiated, allowing him to rejoin the race in first place. The safety car was deployed to retrieve Fernando Alonso’s damaged Aston Martin, which had experienced a spin at Turn 12 after being inadvertently nudged by Liam Lawson, who had earlier complained about poor visibility due to a misting visor.
With only four laps remaining when the safety car emerged, the race concluded under caution, which prevented Piastri from mounting a challenge for the lead and ultimately secured Norris’s victory. Reflecting on his performance, Norris expressed satisfaction with both his luck in Miami and the overall pace of his car, remarking, “It’s always tricky in these races. You never know when to pit – whether to box early or wait and see if a safety car might come out. It has worked out in my favor for two consecutive years now.”
Piastri, who saw his championship lead shrink to just nine points, expressed frustration over the safety car’s timing, which robbed him of what would have been a straightforward victory. He remarked, “I feel like I did everything right out there. Of course, it’s disappointing to finish second, but sometimes that’s just how it goes. I hope this means I’ll have some luck in the races to come.”
Hamilton’s timely decision to switch to soft tires proved to be a masterstroke, propelling him into third place and allowing him to maintain his perfect podium streak in Sprints this season, following his victory in Shanghai. He shared his delight, stating, “I’m really pleased with how that turned out. It has been a challenging year so far.”
The outcome of the race saw Verstappen relegated to fourth place, but after his penalty was applied post-race while the field was still under the safety car, he found himself in 17th place. This change promoted Alex Albon to fourth, followed by George Russell and Lance Stroll, with Stroll impressively gaining ten places after opting for slicks on the same lap as Hamilton.
Lawson finished in seventh place but may face scrutiny following a post-race investigation regarding his collision with Alonso. Oliver Bearman edged out Yuki Tsunoda for the final point, with both drivers making significant gains during the race, although Bearman is also expected to face the stewards over an unsafe release involving Nico Hulkenberg.
The pole-sitter Antonelli rounded out the top ten but might still have a chance to earn a point pending potential penalties for other drivers. Pierre Gasly finished 11th, with Hulkenberg, Isack Hadjar, Esteban Ocon, Gabriel Bortoleto, Jack Doohan, and the penalized Verstappen following behind. Carlos Sainz joined Alonso on the list of retirements after hitting the wall during a turn into the chicane, while Leclerc’s race ended before it began due to his earlier crash during the reconnaissance lap.
