Lando Norris won the second Sprint race in the 2025 Formula 1 season in Miami in tricky and chaotic conditions, ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.
Drama started even before any racing had started as rain hit the track in Miami and Ferrari sent out Charles Leclerc on Intermediate tyres towards the grid but the conditions were too much for the green-walled tyres to handle and the Monegasque aquaplaned on the back straight ending up in the wall, his race over even before starting.
After a couple of laps behind the Safety Car, the start was delayed as the conditions were too risky for racing as the start was delayed for almost 30 minutes.
After a couple of formation laps, race control decided it should be a standing start with 16 laps of actual racing remaining with the field starting on Intermediate tyres as the rain stopped and the track started to dry out.
Polesitter, Kimi Antonelli, showed that experience meant in such conditions as he was out-dragged at the start by Piastri who passed him into Turn 1, the Italian running wide outside track limits and dropping to fourth as he was also passed by Norris and Max Verstappen.
Antonelli cried foul and claimed Piastri pushed him off but it was clear that was not the case and the stewards dismissed the incident.
From there on, the race was a bit of a procession as Piastri led while Norris kept in touch saving tyres while Verstappen didn't seem to have the pace to attack while he also complained about his visor which offered no visibility.
Then came the pitstops
But the all hell broke loose when Red Bull pitted Yuki Tsunoda from 19th for a set of Medium tyres with Carlos Sainz doing the same.
Ferrari pitted Hamilton the lap after which turned out to be a masterstroke as the seven-time F1 champion was flying on the Soft rubber and back into the points.
The Red Bull brought Verstappen in for a set of Mediums as well but they release him in the path of Antonelli who was pitting as well, the Italian driver having to keep going and then pitting on the following lap.
Verstappen hit Antonelli, damaging his front wing and was handed a 10-second time penalty for the unsafe release which meant he finished down in 17th and out of the points.
In the meantime, McLaren kept their drivers out on track as Norris was attacking Piastri, both on worn out Inters the former's in a slightly better condition.
Piastri dived into the pits on lap 14 while Norris stayed out, while George Russell and Fernando Alonso did the same.
Norris was called in on the following lap which seemed to be a mistake from McLaren, leaving him out too long, but then the Briton was handed a lifeline as the Safety Car was sent out to clear debris following a spin and puncture by Sainz.
At the same time, Alonso crashed having gone on the kerbs at Turn 12 fighting with a clueless Liam Lawson trying to pass on the outside.
Norris took the lead behind the Safety Car and remained there with Piastri behind him as Hamilton was in third, the Ferrari man passing Verstappen who at that point was fourth before his penalty was applied.
In the end, the racing was not resumed as the Safety Car came in on the final lap with the distance from the pit entry to the flag not enough for any driver to launch an attack.
Norris took the chequered flag with Piastri in his wake while Hamilton was third. Alex Albon was fourth in the Williams ahead of Russell who was fifth in the Mercedes.
Albon was under investigation though for a Safety Car infringement.
Lawson was sixth ahead of Lance Stroll in seventh as Oliver Bearman took the final point in eighth.
Norris: My luck in Miami pretty good
Norris seemed to relish the luck he has in Miami having also won his maiden F1 career race at the venue in 2024 and speaking after the Sprint, he said: "My luck in Miami seems pretty good at the minute, so I’m happy.
"The pace was still very good. It’s always just difficult these races. You never know when to box. You box early, it paid off for Lewis and he had a good strategy. Or do you stay out later and maybe get the safety car.
"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," he concluded.
Piastri rued his luck and added: "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. But, another great start and I had to get my elbows out in that one. Happy with what I did," he maintained.
But the happy bunny was Hamilton who struggled with understeer earlier in the race while on Inters and Ferrari's well-timed pitstop transformed his race.
He commented: "I’m so happy with that! It’s been a tough year so far, but to have… I never thought it was going to rain in Miami. It was the first time that we’ve all been on track in the wet here, and what a race it provided us.
"I really, really did struggle on the inters. I think everyone was struggling on them. I made that call at the end, I was like, I’m coming in because I was going nowhere, so take the risk, take the gamble, and it paid off.
"I wish we had another couple of laps to give these guys a bit of a fight. But big congrats to McLaren as always," Hamilton concluded.
It was a tough Sprint for Verstappen who dropped back further behind Norris and Piastri in the championship standings.
He said of his botched pit stop: "They have all been different incidents [this year]. You can't compare these things.
"We all don't want that to happen but it happened. 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.
"It's super clear what happened, so there's not much more for me to add," he insisted.
He also got away with a grid box position at the started where his front tyres were on the white line, so when asked if what he did was deliberate, he cheekily responded: "On the edge!"
Miami GP Sprint Provisional Classification
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