Lando Norris benefitted from a fortunately timed safety car to beat his teammate to take the victory at a wet to dry Miami sprint race.
Conditions before the race were incredibly poor, so much so that Charles Leclerc hit the wall on the reconisance lap, causing suspension damage and ending his race before it had even begun.
The race procedure started with multiple formation laps as the conditions were treacherously wet, with visibility being terrible and Max Verstappen having heading off track at turn 17, though fortunately without damage.
Eventually, the start would be delayed as the red flag was waved, but conditions were still damp when the five red lights went out in Miami.
Oscar Piastri got a better launch off the line than Andrea Kimi Antonelli heading into turn 1, with the latter then going wide at the corner, making him lose multiple positions.
Antonelli would feel that Piastri pushed him off, but the stewards concluded that no further action should take place.
Some drivers managed to make some significant gains on the opening lap, with both Liam Lawson and Lance Stroll managing to gain four places respectively.
Piastri would quickly pull out a decent gap out front of about two seconds by the end of lap 4, the second lap of green flag running in this sprint.
The track appeared to be drying relatively quickly, and questions began to be raised as to whether slick tyres would be seen, even as the short number of laps continued to pass.
That question would be answered quickly as Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda would put on mediums on lap 11, and Lewis Hamilton would take softs on lap 12. Getting the timing right would be crucial for making significant gains in this race.
Chaos erupted on lap 13, as Carlos Sainz would first pick up a puncture on his new medium tyres after hitting the wall on the inside of turn 14, while in the pit lane Verstappen would collide with Antonelli.
The reigning world champion would not only pick up front wing damage, but also a 10 second penalty for an unsafe release, adding salt to the wound and effectively taking him out of contention for the race.
The incident would also negatively impact Antonelli, as Verstappen’s car coming out stopped him from being able to put, making him drive through the pits, do an extra lap on intermediates and put again.
Lewis Hamilton managed to gain some positions with the timing of his pit stop, but still had some work to do to climb into the podium places. He managed to make an overtake around the outside of Max Verstappen at turn 11, though this was before the Dutchman had received his penalty.
Oscar Piastri would pit on lap 13, with his teammate Lando Norris coming in one lap later. Norris would get very fortunate with the timing of his pit stop, as Fernando Alonso crashed as he came in to the pit lane, bringing out the safety car.
The time gained in the pits slung him ahead of Piastri into first place, where he would remain for the rest of the race as the checkered flag was taken under safety car conditions.
The result means that Norris does gain on Piastri’s championship lead, albeit by only one point, ahead of qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix race.
