The infamous Florida rain delivered a hectic Miami sprint and a swapped McLaren result from what likely would've happened without a late safety car.
Lando Norris took the sprint win after a late crash kept Oscar Piastri from being able to reclaim his leading position from his teammate after the Aussie led from Turn 1 until he went to the pit for dry tires.
The sprint faced some delays due to poor visibility from rain that were severe enough that it caused Charles Leclerc to crash out before the official start.
Charles Leclerc hits the wall!! š±
ā Formula 1 (@F1) May 3, 2025
With rain falling heavily, Leclerc sustains heavy damage on his way to the grid after contact with the wall#F1 #F1Sprint #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/XGiaxPPuBq
After a red flag, Piastri overtook pole sitter Kimi Antonelli, putting the 18-year-old in the run off and dropping him back to fourth. Antonelli called for a penalty that did not come. The actual green flag running was entirely without additional rain, which led to drying track conditions in the closing laps, meaning the inter tires were overheating.
The crossover period led to a bit of chaos -- Carlos Sainz whacked the wall and left debris in the chicane, Verstappen was released right into the path of Antonelli in the pits, effectively ruining both of their sprints (Verstappen got a 10-second penalty) and then things were punctuated by Liam Lawson taking out Fernando Alonso, which meant the race ended under safety car.
ā f1mediaacc (@f1mediaacc) May 3, 2025
Norris was able to catch Piastri in the crossover conditions, but Piastri got first dibs on pitting.
The Alonso crash happened while Norris was being released from his pit stop, meaning Piastri did not get back by Norris due to the reduced speeds. With no chance for a green flag restart, the win fell to Norris.
Although it was an awkward situation for Norris and McLaren, it is only a single point difference for a first and second-place finish in a sprint. Only the top eight get points in the sprint format.
Norris now sits nine points behind his teammate for the top spot in the standings. Alex Albon put together a stunning P4, but was hit with a post-race penalty that erased his points. Ollie Bearman was also bound for points for Haas, but he
Focus now shifts to Miami Grand Prix qualifying at 4 p.m. ET.
RESULTS: 2025 Miami Sprint + points earned
Position | Driver | Team | Points gained/Cause for DNF |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +8 |
2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +7 |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +6 |
4 | George Russell | Mercedes | +5 |
5 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +4 |
6 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | +3 |
7 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +2 |
8 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +1 |
9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | - |
10 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | - |
11 | Alex Albon | Williams | 10-second time penalty for safety car infringement |
12 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | - |
13 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 5-second time penalty for causing a collision |
14 | Ollie Bearman | Haas | 5-second time penalty for an unsafe release |
15 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | - |
16 | Jack Doohan | Alpine | - |
17 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 10-second time penalty for unsafe release |
18 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | DNF - Crash |
19 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | DNF - Crash |
20 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | DNF - Crash (formation lap) |
Driver Standings after F1 Miami Sprint
Position | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
1 | Oscar Piastri | 106 |
2 | Lando Norris | 97 |
3 | Max Verstappen | 87 |
4 | George Russell | 78 |
5 | Charles Leclerc | 47 |
6 | Kimi Antonelli | 40 |
7 | Lewis Hamilton | 37 |
8 | Alex Albon | 20 |
9 | Esteban Ocon | 14 |
10 | Lance Stroll | 14 |
11 | Yuki Tsunoda | 8 |
12 | Pierre Gasly | 7 |
13 | Nico Hulkenberg | 6 |
14 | Ollie Bearman | 6 |
15 | Isack Hadjar | 5 |
16 | Carlos Sainz | 5 |
17 | Fernando Alonso | 0 |
18 | Liam Lawson | 0 |
19 | Jack Doohan | 0 |
20 | Gabriel Bortoleto | 0 |