Norris leads McLaren Miami Sprint sweep

Lando Norris scored a straightforward victory over McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the Miami Sprint.

Norris launched cleanly off the line to convert pole into an undisputed lead at the first turn while Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, starting from the front row, got bogged down and swamped by both Piastri and Charles Leclerc.

A typically powerful start from Leclerc came close to propelling the Ferrari driver into second place, but Piastri tipped his McLaren into Turn 1 just ahead, allowing the Australian to hold position.

Russell came close to demoting Antonelli another place as he drew level with his teammate at the first apex, but the Briton cautiously backed out of the move to avoid a collision as the sister silver car turned in. It freed Antonelli to pressure Leclerc for a spot on the podium, though his challenge lasted only until Turn 11 on the second lap, where the Italian ran deep and lost momentum.

This put Russell on the attack, with the Englishman making a move down the inside of the Turn 17 hairpin on lap 7 and holding off a counterattack into the first turn, though it stuck only until Turn 11, where Antonelli fought back with his own down-the-inside move.

It was all good news for Norris, who was able to control the pace to manage his tires on a punishing day, with track temperatures soaring to 127 degrees F. He was more than a second clear of Piastri at the end of the first lap, and he eked out his advantage to 3.766s by the time he took the checkered flag after 19 laps.

“It was a good race. It’s nice to be back on the top step, even if it’s a Sprint,” he said. “Massive job by the team bringing upgrades. Ours have really helped this weekend. Happy to get it done for the team.

“It was hot out there. It was sweaty. I was still pushing. I was trying to find that balance of pushing but also being quite relaxed and not making mistakes. A good start to the weekend, but now we have to do it all over again.”

Piastri’s tires began overheating in the second half of the race after following in his teammate’s dirty air, allowing Leclerc to apply some late pressure for position. The Ferrari got within a second of second place with seven laps to go and remained in the Australian’s wake until the penultimate lap, when he ran wide at Turn 11, freeing Piastri to finish second.

“A little bit to find to try and stay with Lando, but it was a good morning so we’ll try and see what we can do for qualifying,” he said. “I think everyone else will learn a lot, but so will we, so hopefully we can maintain that through the rest of the weekend.”

Leclerc was buoyed to have been able to pressure a McLaren in the race and eyed a better qualifying result later today after the disappointment of starting fourth.

“The upgrades worked well,” he said. “Thanks to the team, who did massive work over five weeks of break. I’m satisfied with that.

“Unfortunately I’m not satisfied with P3, though. We wish we were a little bit higher, but McLaren brought significant upgrades as well and did a big step forward. But we are not too far away. I think for tomorrow if we put everything together maybe we can start a bit higher, and that will make our life a little bit easier.”

Antonelli’s pass back on Russell was definitive, with tire wear too high for another duel and locking them into fourth and fifth at the flag, but the Italian was penalized 5s post-race for too many track limits violations, demoting him to sixth and promoting Russell to fourth.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen enjoyed an exclusive battle for sixth in the first half of the sprint, with the Ferrari driver jumping the Dutchman early in the race. Verstappen fought back on lap 8 at Turn 11, but he took both cars off track in the process and was forced to hand the place back.

His revitalized RB22 clearly had the pace, however, and he made the move legally on lap 10 at the Turn 17 hairpin to finish what ended up being fifth place ahead of his 2021 title rival, who faded in the closing laps.

Pierre Gasly jumped both Isack Hadjar and Franco Colapinto for the final point for eighth position. Hadjar made an opportunistic late-braking move into Turn 4 in the final laps to beat him in the battle over ninth and 10th.

Gabriel Bortoleto had a lonely Sprint in 11th ahead of Haas teammates Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, who were pressured by Carlos Sainz throughout.

Sergio Perez had forward momentum for Cadillac to finish 16th ahead of Aston Martin teammates Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, while Valtteri Bottas finished adrift of the field in 19th in the second General Motors car.

Alex Albon finished 20th and last after needing a pit stop for a new nose.

Neither Nico Hulkenberg nor Arvid Lindblad started the race, the former due to an engine fire on his way to the grid and the latter due to an undisclosed technical problem.

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