Lando Norris emerged victorious in a dramatic, rain-delayed F1 Miami GP Sprint Race, capitalising on a fortuitously timed late-race safety car to take the win ahead of McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
Piastri snatched the lead from polesitter Kimi Antonelli shortly after the start. From there, he focused on building a gap to Norris in second and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third. He remained in the lead for the majority of the Sprint.
Norris began to close in on Piastri as the track started to dry up, with drivers diving into the pits to swap intermediate tyres for slicks. Piastri was the first McLaren to pit, while Norris stayed out, inheriting the lead from his teammate.
Chaos unfolded in the closing stages of the Sprint, with several cars sustaining damage or crashing out of the race altogether, leading to debris being scattered across the circuit.
Fernando Alonso was spun into the barriers during a battle with Liam Lawson, which triggered a safety car. The timing favoured Norris, allowing him to remain in the lead after his late-race stop.
“Yeah, definitely, I feel like I did pretty much everything right there,” Piastri said in the post-race interview, disappointed but composed. “Obviously a bit disappointed to come away with second, but that’s how it goes sometimes. Unfortunately, racing is a pretty cruel business… Hopefully that means I get a bit of luck for this afternoon and tomorrow.
“Another great start. I had to get my elbows out on that one, so… I’m happy with what I did.”
Already looking ahead to the rest of the weekend
With qualifying for the F1 Miami GP set to get underway later today, Piastri is already looking ahead to the rest of the weekend.
“Yeah, definitely, I think we had a little bit of pace on the table in Sprint Qualifying yesterday,” Piastri said. “Hopefully we can use that for quali this afternoon. It’d be nice if the weather could make up its mind.
“Been enjoying it…and yeah, I think we’ve got a quick car underneath us, so we’ll try and make it even quicker and have a bit of an easier race tomorrow.”
