Lando Norris, reigning world champ, dominates Miami F1 Sprint Race
- Lando Norris won the Formula 1 Sprint Race at the Miami Grand Prix from the pole position.
- Norris's McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, finished second, followed by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in third.
- This was the first race of the season not won by a Mercedes driver.
- Championship leader Kimi Antonelli finished sixth after a penalty for exceeding track limits.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Reigning world champion Lando Norris answered his victory a year ago with a strong, unchallenged run to a second straight Sprint Race triumph Saturday at the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix – leading all 19 laps from pole position at the Miami International Autodrome.
The 3.36-mile Miami circuit around Hard Rock Stadium has been a positive place for Norris and his McLaren Racing team. It was the site of the British driver's very first F1 victory in 2024. His teammate Oscar Piastri, the defending Miami Grand Prix race winner finished second to Norris in Saturday’s Sprint by 3.766-seconds
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounded out the podium marking the first race of any kind this season not won by a Mercedes driver and the first podium with no Mercedes driver hoisting a trophy.
“Perfect way to start the weekend,’’ said Norris, who received his winning hardware from NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, just back from leading that historical trip around the moon.
“Probably the first weekend all year I‘ve not had any drama,’’ Norris said. “Could just go out and do my program and learn from the beginning and not feel like I’m a step behind on anything.’’
Piastri was similarly encouraged.
“Clearly still a little bit to find, but as Lando said, the car is a really good step forward this weekend and to be able to have that kind of pace today and yesterday has been a welcome return to form.,’’ said Piastri, who finished runner-up in the last F1 grand prix, at Japan.
“Now have to keep it going, obviously. Good start to the weekend and to the day.’’
Current F1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli was penalized for exceeding track limits during the sprint and although he crossed the finish line fourth, he was dropped in the official race standings because of a five-second penalty. That time moved his Mercedes teammate George Russell and two-time Miami race winner, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen up a position in the race outcome to fourth and fifth, respectively.
Even with his sixth place showing Saturday, Antonelli continues to lead the championship standing by seven points over Russell entering Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix.
Cadillac F1’s American debut resulted in 14th (Sergio Perez) and 19th place (Valtteri Bottas) finishes in the 22-car field.
“We know that we are a little out of sync with our upgrades compared to other teams,’’ Mercedes team principle Toto Wolff said. “We were hoping we were going to be able to hold on to our advantage and in terms of pure lap times, we were close to the pace at the front in the Sprint. But if you have a bad getaway, which wasn’t at all Kimi’s fault but was an issue on our side, it is going to be difficult to fight back.
“This season is going to be a pure development race and whoever brings a few tenths before their competitors will gain an advantage.’’
That’s exactly what much of the rest of the field is hoping after such a dominant Mercedes start to the season.
Leclerc, whose Ferrari paced Thursday’s opening practice at the Miami track, was encouraged by Friday’s results, but reiterated that with rain a possibility for Sunday’s 4 p.m. race, much remains unknown for the grand prix. And that applies not just to the weather, but how the series will race with updated technical regulations debuting this week to help ease competitive frustration that has upended the early season championship run for many seasonal frontrunners.
“The steps the FIA have taken have made it better,’’ Leclerc said of the technical upgrades teams received this week. “Will there be any more problems? I’m not sure.’’
Norris was also optimistic that the regulation adjustments will result in more passing and more competitive action.
“The car is just clearly working significantly better, more consistent, more predictable in certain circumstances which is a good thing in any speed or corner so just able to predict things better and change things better from lap to lap,’’ Norris said. ”Before it was a big more ying and yang with how the car might handle so now we can kind of consistently drive at a closer limit to perfection.
“At the end of the day, simply it’s just more grip and the cars are working better. I think it’s taken a good step forward and I just thought I could hit the throttle pedal. A little more aggressively and that’s always a good feeling.’’