The Sprint Race in Miami was not short of excitement, and was full of rain and on-track battles. Lando Norris came out on top after starting third on the grid, and his teammate ended the race behind in second. Lewis Hamilton had a great result for Ferrari in third after taking a gamble to pit for slicks that paid off. Here are some highlights from the Miami Sprint.
- Starting Procedure Suspended
- The rain was in full swing before the race had officially started, which did lead to some excitement. Once the pit-lane had opened and cars began making there way to the grid, Charles Leclerc, on inters, hit the wall and crashed out. As a result, the Ferrari driver, who would have starting sixth, could not start the Sprint Race at all. The heavy rain also caused there to be a red flag, and the starting procedure was suspended. The rain was not done causing problems though.
- Three DNFs
- Most drivers boxed for slicks in the final stages of the race as the rain died down, however some accidents still occurred. Carlos Sainz spun around and caused his tire to get extremely loose and debris to scatter the track. Luckily the Spaniard made it back to the pits safely, but he wasn’t able to continue the race. Later, with only a handful of laps to go, Liam Lawson and Fernando Alonso came into contact and the Aston Martin driver hit the barriers. This triggered a safety car, which all the drivers had to end the race behind.
- Battles In and Out of the Pit-Lane
- The Sprint Races always provide plenty of overtaking battles, one of which we saw between the pole-sitter Antonelli and Piastri behind on turn 1. The McLaren driver and the Mercedes driver raced side by side, and the fight caused Kimi to be pushed wide and lose out on multiple places. Kimi took the radio, saying Piastri pushed him off, however the issue didn’t get much farther than that, as it was clear that Piastri was ahead at the apex. Another battle that went on for significantly longer was Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon. The pair seemed evenly matched, and every time Sainz tried an overtaking move, Ocon kept him at bay. Eventually Ocon prevailed, and Sainz would go on to later retire from the race. The pit-lane also took part in the excitement, when both Verstappen and Antonelli came in to box. Verstappen was leaving the pits when his front wing knocked into the car of Antonelli. The incident earned Verstappen a ten-second penalty, as Red Bull performed an unsafe release.
- Hamilton’s Impressive Result with Ferrari
- Lewis Hamilton hasn’t been having the smoothest transition with Ferrari, aside from his brilliant Sprint win in China. However, this time around Ferrari got there strategy right when they boxed Hamilton earlier than most in order to switch the tires from intermediates to softs. While the other drivers pitted after him, Hamilton was able to climb back up to his starting position and beyond, ending the race in third place. Him and Ferrari will be happy with their result, especially after Leclerc was unable to drive in today’s Sprint.
- Lando Prevailed Ahead of his Teammate
- This result for Lando Norris was exactly what the Brit needed to regain confidence, and he obtained it with the help of the perfectly-timed safety car that helped in score his maiden win in 2024. Norris was one of the last to pit for slick tires, as he most likely was waiting for that safety car. However, he eventually boxed anyway. As the McLaren driver was exiting the pit-lane and his teammate was coming down the main straight, the safety car was deployed due to Alonso’s crash. This meant that Norris now had enough time to exit the pits and remain ahead of Piastri. In the end, the Brit gained a valuable one more point than Oscar to help his Championship bid.
