Norris wins Miami sprint from P3 as McLaren secures 1-2 ahead of Hamilton

A disrupted opening lap

The Miami sprint began in disarray. Double-yellow flags lit up sector 11 within seconds of the lights going out, followed almost immediately by yellows across sectors 13 and 14 — a sign of trouble spreading around the Miami International Autodrome before the field had completed a single lap.

Charles Leclerc's car 16 was flagged for an unsafe condition at lap 1, with the stewards confirming the matter would be investigated after the sprint concluded. The sector 11 double-yellows continued to be called repeatedly across a prolonged stretch of time, and by 16:04 UTC a full red flag brought the session to a halt — still officially on lap 1.

Restart incidents and stewards' verdicts

The restart generated its own controversy. Race control noted a lap 1 Turn 1 incident between Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri on lap 5; the stewards reviewed it and declared no further investigation on lap 6. Almost simultaneously, Max Verstappen was flagged for a false start — out of position — on lap 6, only to be cleared without penalty on lap 7.

The race-control feed remained busy: Jack Doohan had a lap 3 time of 2:13.457 deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 11, and Carlos Sainz also had a lap time deleted for a track-limits violation.

How the sprint unfolded

Out of the chaos, Lando Norris emerged cleanest. Starting from P3, he won the 18-lap distance and crossed the line in 36:37.647, securing eight sprint points.

Piastri, who had started from the front row and been caught up in the early contact with Antonelli, recovered superbly to finish 0.672 seconds adrift of his team-mate — a McLaren 1-2 that will make for pointed reading within the garage.

Lewis Hamilton produced the drive of the afternoon. Starting seventh, the Ferrari driver threaded his way to P3 and finished 1.073s behind Norris, setting the sprint's fastest lap — a 1:36.368 — on lap 13.

George Russell completed the top four for Mercedes, 3.127s off the winner from a P5 grid slot.

The most striking recovery came from Lance Stroll. Starting 16th, the Aston Martin driver carved through the disrupted order to finish P5, just 3.412s behind Norris, to hand Aston Martin four unexpected points. Yuki Tsunoda was similarly impressive, climbing from 20th on the grid to sixth, 5.153s adrift at the flag.

Antonelli paid the heaviest price for the opening-lap contact with Piastri. The Mercedes driver had started from pole but dropped to seventh by the chequered flag, 5.635s behind Norris. Pierre Gasly climbed from P13 to P8 to score Alpine's sole point of the afternoon. Nico Hülkenberg advanced from P11 to P9, while Isack Hadjar dropped from P9 to P10 to round out the top ten.

Conditions on the day

Air temperature ranged from 23.3 °C to 26 °C during the session, with track temperature spanning 26.9 °C to 32.6 °C. Humidity fell as low as 79 % during the sprint, while a rainfall reading was recorded at the session's start, consistent with the slippery, flag-heavy opening lap. Wind remained light throughout, reaching a maximum of 2.5 m/s.

Championship implications

Oscar Piastri leads the drivers' championship on 99 points after round 5, with Norris on 89 — the pair separated by 10 points at the top of the standings. Verstappen sits third on 87 points; his false-start investigation and a sprint that yielded nothing leave Red Bull under growing pressure from two fronts.

Hamilton's P3 brings him to 31 points in seventh in the standings, while Russell's P4 keeps him fourth on 73. Ferrari's afternoon is complicated further by the ongoing Leclerc unsafe-condition investigation heading into the grand prix.

McLaren top the constructors' standings on 188 points after round 5, with the sprint 1-2 — Norris eight points, Piastri seven — central to their advantage at the head of the field.

Sprint result

Pos	Driver	Team	Time/Status	Pts
1	Lando Norris	McLaren	36:37.647	8
2	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.672	7
3	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+1.073	6
4	George Russell	Mercedes	+3.127	5
5	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+3.412	4
6	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull	+5.153	3
7	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+5.635	2
8	Pierre Gasly	Alpine F1 Team	+5.973	1
9	Nico Hülkenberg	Sauber	+6.153	0
10	Isack Hadjar	RB F1 Team	+7.502	0