Norris beats Piastri and Leclerc to victory in Miami Sprint

Lando Norris claimed victory during Saturday’s Sprint at the Miami Grand Prix, crossing the line ahead of McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, after another tricky start for Mercedes man Kimi Antonelli.

Polesitter Norris converted his advantage on the run down to the first corner and never looked back – gradually pulling away from Piastri and Leclerc as the 19-lap encounter developed, and staying clear of the squabbles behind him.

Antonelli dropped from second to fourth off the line, and almost fell behind team mate Russell, who started back in sixth, with the two Mercedes drivers swapping positions on a couple of occasions before the championship leader emerged on top – only to be demoted to P6 after the chequered flag due to a track limits violation.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and the other Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton were also involved in a close battle, rubbing wheels on the opening lap and midway through the race, but the former had enough pace in hand to cross the line in sixth, which became fifth after Antonelli’s penalty.

Pierre Gasly grabbed the final point on offer for Alpine with a solid run to eighth, followed by the other Red Bull of Isack Hadjar and team mate Franco Colapinto – the latter two involved in their own exciting scrap over the final few laps.

Audi’s hopes of snatching a point were dented when Nico Hulkenberg’s car caught fire on the way to the grid, while a strong start for Gabriel Bortoleto faded and ended with an 11th-place finish, ahead of Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman.

Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson led the charge for their respective Williams and Racing Bulls teams in 14th and 15th, while Aston Martin made the finish with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in 16th and 18th after both of them started on soft tyres, rather than the more popular choice of mediums.

Cadillac ended their first home F1 race in P17 and P20 with Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, while Williams’ Alex Albon (who stopped for a front wing change late on) was the penultimate finisher in 19th – the aforementioned Hulkenberg being joined on the sidelines by Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad, who was due to start from the pit lane but never made it out on track.

AS IT HAPPENED

After an extended five-week gap, F1 returned to action at the Miami International Autodrome on Friday, where Mercedes’ dominant start to the 2026 campaign was emphatically ended in the afternoon’s enthralling Sprint Qualifying session.

With the upgraded McLarens, Ferraris and Red Bull of Verstappen all in the front-running mix alongside the Silver Arrows, it was reigning World Champion Norris who took pole position – leading the way from Antonelli and team mate Piastri.

Post-session, there were a couple of changes to the grid: Albon dropping from 14th to 19th after a track limits violation, and Lindblad going from 15th to the pit lane due to mechanics breaching the regulations by working on his car beyond the ‘covers-on’ time.

As day turned to night, news came in that motorsport and Paralympic legend Alex Zanardi had passed away – the paddock coming together on Saturday morning to remember him with a host of tributes and a minute of silence ahead of the Sprint.

After those emotional moments, drivers got into the zone and geared up for the 100-kilometre Sprint – taking place over 19 laps, and awarding points to the top-eight finishers: eight points for the victory, down to a single point for P8.

However, there was drama before the race started when Hulkenberg’s Audi caught fire on the reconnaissance laps and stopped at the side of the track – marshals springing into action to extinguish the flames, and the German’s P12 grid slot remaining empty.

When the remaining 21 cars lined up at 1200 local time, it was revealed that most drivers would be starting on the medium compound tyre, with only the Aston Martins opting for softs and only the Cadillacs going for hards.

At lights out, polesitter Norris got away well to lead into Turn 1, while another sluggish start for Antonelli saw him drop to fourth, behind Piastri and Leclerc – and almost team mate Russell, who enjoyed a much cleaner launch.

A few car lengths back, Verstappen and Hamilton banged wheels as they battled over sixth and seventh respectively, from the Alpines of Gasly and Colapinto, and the sole remaining Audi of Bortoleto, who had edged ahead of the slow-starting Hadjar.

As the laps ticked by, Antonelli pushed hard to find a way past Leclerc and recover some lost ground, but instead came under pressure from Russell and subsequently had to go into defensive mode. “Kimi is so bad on wheel-to-wheel. He moved under braking. It’s unbelievable,” reported Leclerc over the radio.

At the end of Lap 7, Russell tucked into Antonelli’s slipstream along the lengthy back straight and managed to make a move for P4 into the final hairpin, but the Italian retaliated on the following tour with a pass under braking at Turn 11.

Just behind them, Hamilton and Verstappen went wheel-to-wheel once more. “Max overtook me going off the track,” commented Hamilton after the Dutchman muscled his way past over the white lines between Turns 11 and 12.

Verstappen was duly ordered to give the place back, before winding himself up again and making an overtake stick into Turn 17 a couple of laps later – the top seven now reading Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Antonelli, Russell, Verstappen and Hamilton.

Elsewhere, another retirement was confirmed when planned pit lane starter Arvid Lindblad hopped out of his Racing Bulls machine and headed to the garage timing wall, while there was drama for Ocon when some bodywork flew off his Haas.

Antonelli’s eventful race continued when he was issued a black-and-white flag by the stewards for exceeding track limits on multiple occasions, something that would eventually catch him out with one final transgression in the closing laps of the race.

Up front, Norris was enjoying life in clean air, building his advantage over Piastri to almost four seconds by the time he took the chequered flag – marking his first win of 2026, McLaren’s first win of 2026, and the first non-Mercedes win of 2026.

Leclerc was another 2.5 seconds adrift after running wide in his late pursuit of Piastri, while Antonelli crossed the line fourth but was pushed back to sixth post-race – behind Russell and Verstappen – for that aforementioned track limits breach and five-second penalty.

Hamilton and Gasly were the final points scorers in P7 and P8 respectively, from Hadjar and Colapinto (the Frenchman pulling off a bold move into Turn 4 to grab ninth), Bortoleto and Haas duo Ocon and Bearman, who were also close together across the line.

Sainz and Lawson were next up for Williams and Racing Bulls in 14th and 15th, as Aston Martin logged a slightly more positive session by making the finish with both Alonso and Stroll in 16th and 18th – the pair sandwiching the Cadillac of Perez.

Albon (after a late front wing change) and Bottas were the last drivers to reach the finish in 19th and 20th, following the pre-race stoppage for Hulkenberg and the undisclosed issues that kept Lindblad’s Racing Bulls car stuck in the garage.

Key quote

“It was a good race – nice to be back on the top step, even if it’s a Sprint,” said Norris. “A good day for us. A massive job for the team in bringing the upgrades – it feels like everyone’s saying the same thing but ours have really helped this weekend, so I’m happy to get it done for the team. It was hot out there, it was sweaty. I was still pushing, trying to find that balance of pushing but also being quite relaxed and not making any mistakes. A good start to the weekend, but now I have to do it all over again.”

What’s next

Following the Sprint, the drivers will return to action for Qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix later on Saturday at 1600 local time. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can follow the action.