Fortune favours Norris in wet and wild Miami Sprint

Oscar Piastri looked set to cruise to Sprint victory in a chaotic, rain-soaked Miami Sprint until a late-race Safety Car flipped the script in Lando Norris’ favour, handing the Brit a surprise win as treacherous weather, messy crashes and strategy carnage dramatically reshuffled the deck.

Chaos hit the soaked streets of Miami before the Sprint had even begun, as Charles Leclerc added to Ferrari’s growing frustrations by crashing on his way to the grid after aquaplaning at Turn 8, heavily damaging his car and ruling himself out of the 19-lap dash before lights out.

The lack of visibility and “rivers” of standing water on the initial Formation Lap left even pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli complaining that he couldn’t see anything despite only trailing the Safety Car, with Piastri echoing the sentiments of the man ahead of him when he said “visibility is genuinely the worst I’ve ever had in a race car”.

Race Control expectedly declared a Red Flag, suspending the starting procedure for around half an hour after the field struggled to stay on track in the final sector.

With the number of racing laps being reduced by one, the youngest-ever pole-sitter in Formula 1 led the field out of the pitlane to complete two additional Formation Laps — counting towards the Sprint’s total — behind the Safety Car before lining up for a standing start.

Eyeing down the five lights, Antonelli put his foot to the floor on the run to Turn 1, however, it was the championship leader who got the better start, owning the first corner as the Mercedes driver claimed he was forced wide.

As a result, Antonelli fell down the order to fourth, quickly coming under threat from his teammate before regaining composure.

In the lead of the race, Piastri instantly built an interval of 1.7 seconds to Lando Norris in P2, a margin that continued to grow lap by lap as the Australian reported the track beginning to dry.

Carlos Sainz was one of a few drivers making moves up the order, challenging Esteban Ocon across the opening half of the Sprint, however, the conditions made cementing an overtake for P13 all the more difficult.

On Lap 10, Red Bull took the slick tyre risk with Yuki Tsunoda, calling the Japanese driver in from a lacklustre P17 to experiment on the medium compound tyre. 

The Ferrari pit wall followed suit, requesting Lewis Hamilton’s presence in the pitlane alongside Sainz and Lance Stroll before the entire field reacted to the instant two-second per lap gain Tsunoda was experiencing.

Performing a “mega” two-second pitstop, the fast work of the Ferrari pit crew allowed Hamilton to ultimately secure the final Sprint podium position.

Chaos ensued in the pitlane, with Max Verstappen picking up a ten-second time penalty for an unsafe release into the rear of Antonelli, ruining both drivers’ Sprints as the 18-year-old was forced to abort his pitstop.

Out on track, it was also raining carbon fibre as Carlos Sainz’s lapse of judgement saw the charging Williams driver spinning at Turn 14 after making contact with the wall.

The Spaniard tiptoed back to the pitlane, retiring from the race just moments before the Sprint would be neutralised due to an even bigger incident between Liam Lawson and Fernando Alonso.

Fighting their way through the 5.4km lap, Alonso held position in P8, however, Lawson tagged the Aston Martin while attacking from beyond the white line, sending the veteran careering into the wall and destroying his car with just three laps remaining.

The crumpled Aston Martin brought out the Safety Car, a factor that played handsomely into Norris’ hands. 

Having had to make the choice on which driver to pit first, McLaren called the race leader Piastri in for his slick tyre changeover on Lap 12 — a decision that was meant to favour the Australian, however, when the #4 had his turn in the pitlane, a lucky Safety Car allowed him to steal the definite lead from his teammate. 

The race came to an end behind the Safety Car, with McLaren securing a 1-2 finish in the Sprint to add 15 points to its leading total, while Norris reduced the intra-team margin by one point.

Coming home in third, Lewis Hamilton picked up an unexpected third place, hailing the wet weather chaos and his team’s quick work for the bronze medal position.

As for the rest of the points finishers, Alex Albon took the chequered flag in a valiant fourth place, however, the Williams driver was noted for a possible false start, leaving his haul of five points up in the air. 

Behind the Thai driver, the fellow Mercedes-powered cars of George Russell and Lance Stroll earned themselves a few extra bonus points, while Liam Lawson faces the same fate as Albon.

The Kiwi finished within the points for the first time in 2025, however, the incident between himself and Alonso is yet to be investigated, and could most likely see Lawson knocked out of the points. 

To start the wet and wild Sprint, Lawson gained five positions when the field finally launched towards the first braking zone, moving from P14 to P9 and jumping his teammate in the process. 

The RB duo duelled as the track began to dry, prompting the team to break up the battle when Lawson pitted for slick tyres on Lap 12, however, the flow of the Kiwi’s race ended there.

As for Jack Doohan, the Australian failed to find any glimpses of sunshine on the cloudy Miami outing, instantly losing out to Yuki Tsunoda as the five lights went out.

He came under minor threat from Gabriel Bortoleto, however, without DRS being enabled, Doohan held onto P18 through to his pitstop for slick tyres, before inheriting his way to his final finishing position in sixteenth. 

Oliver Bearman was the final points finisher on track, rounding out the top eight as the entire field shifts their focus to Grand Prix Qualifying which will take place in just a few hours’ time at 06:00 AEST.

Image: Formula 1

Miami Grand Prix Sprint Results:

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