Lando Norris won the F1 sprint at the Grand Prix of Miami 2025 and celebrated a double victory for McLaren together with his team-mate Oscar Piatri. The chaotic race ended on Nasser route under Safety car conditions and was characterized by numerous accidents and curious situations.
The phase was decisive when the route slowly dried at the beginning after heavy rain and the slicks were faster than the intermediate. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) was the first to have the courage to change the tire from the top drivers, and that ultimately washed it onto the podium as third. “Great work,” he praised his crew on the box radio.
Fourth became Max Verstappen (Red Bull), but he slipped out of the dot length due to a ten-second penalty because of a pituitary collision with Polesetter Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes). Instead, Alexander Albon (Williams) moved up, Vor George Russell (Mercedes), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) and Oliver Bearman (Haas).
However, Lawson threatens a subsequent punishment for causing a collision (with Alonso). If he gets this, Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) would rank 8th. The Japanese was the first to switch to Slicks and then immediately drove the fastest sector periods.
What happened at Leclerc’s crash before the start?
The F1 sprint was already over for Charles Leclerc when he hadn’t even started. Because with the beginning of the so -called pre -start phase, in which the drivers usually drive out of the box to the starting line -up, it started to rain more. In Miami, where it has never rained on the Formula 1 weekend, a novelty.
Leclerc was traveling with intermediates when he slipped straight at curve 10, a light left sheet. “No, no! I try to come back. Total aquaplaning, really total aquaplaning,” he reported on the box radio. “I didn’t even push.” And, a little later: “I can’t make it back. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Leclerc had qualified for the sixth starting position on Friday, but after the crash, not only the tires on the right side of the vehicle were damaged, but also the wheel suspensions. The Ferrari dragged himself a few meters before Leclerc had to turn off completely.
At the latest now it was clear how difficult the conditions in the rain were. Especially since a little later, Oliver Bearman (Haas) slipped off the track. However, the rookie was lucky, did not hit anywhere and could continue. “It’s really very, very wet,” said Piatri in the starting line -up. “It will be difficult to see something, even if you drive in front.”
Why was the starting procedure canceled?
The official warm-up round was then contested behind the safety car. “The view is terrible, even P2,” reported Piatri on the box radio, and even Antonelli said: “I can’t see anything behind the safety car.” So the race management decided to keep the Safety car on the wayside for an additional round of formation until the conditions get better.
After the second round behind the safety car and a ride from Verstappen it said: “Starting procedure is suspended.” So: starting off, red flag. “These are really the worst visual conditions that I have ever experienced in a racing car,” signaled Piatri from the cockpit approval for the decision of the race management.
The new start time of the F1 sprint was set at 12:28 p.m. local time, and the distance was shortened because of the formation rounds that have already been completed. The FIA now said: “The current plan for driving two rounds behind the safety car so that all drivers have the chance to get through curve 1. Then it is decided whether a standing or a flying start takes place.”
How did Antonelli fall back on P4 at the start?
It was then started on intermediate, and Piatri got away a little better on slippery road than Antonelli. The two drove side by side into the first curve, Antonelli had to switch to the blue surface next to the route – and complained: “He pushed me off!” The race management saw it differently: “No Further investigation”, so no examination necessary.
He is “a bit eaten” about the situation in round 1, says Antonelli: “It seems that you can do and leave what you want. Good to know, for the future. But of course a shame for me.” Piatri, on the other hand, keeps: “We probably both slowed down a bit too late. And yes, there was easy contact, but there was still enough space.”
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff naturally has a different look. He says: “You just let go of the brake and get out the other. This is also a signal to the young series. I think you have to leave a wagon width, but it somehow crept in, just crept out in curve 1. Kimi has now learned the lesson: So you make it so!
“It dries off very quickly,” Piatri then radioed in the fourth round. He led 1.9 seconds ahead of Norris, 3.2 before Verstappen and 4.5 before Antonelli. In poor visibility and difficult conditions, nobody wanted to take a risk – because accident damage would have been fatal so shortly before qualifying for the Grand Prix.
It was then started on intermediate, and Piatri got away a little better on slippery road than Antonelli. The two drove side by side into the first curve, Antonelli had to switch to the blue surface next to the route – and complained: “He pushed me off!” The race management saw it differently: “No Further investigation”, so no examination necessary.
Chaos in Miami: What happened then?
In round 10, Tsunoda was the first to get the courage to switch to slicks. And promptly he drove in the middle sector by one and a half to two seconds faster than the rest of the field. Hamilton followed in round 11, followed in round 12, among others Verstappen and Antonelli – while the McLarens were still hanging a round.
Then a strange incident on the box: Verstappen wanted to drive back on the track after a change of tires, but when driving out of his stand, the Red Bull crew apparently overlooked the approaching Antonelli. Antonelli drove Verstappen over the front wing and could not control his own box, had to drive through the pit lane and come back in a round later.
Wolff is annoyed by the “complete lack of judgment in this situation. It wasn’t even nearly sure enough for a release. Someone lost his nerves,” he criticized the Red Bull crew. “It was a human mistake,” says Red Bull team boss Christian Horner. And Helmut Marko accepts: “The punishment was rightly pronounced.”
Verstappen himself is most annoyed about it: “Something like that should not happen, but it has happened. We have to investigate. I am glad that nobody was hurt. Because if you meet these cars with these cars, it is not nice. It’s clear what happened. I don’t have to say anything.”
At the same time, Carlos Sainz (Williams), who got stuck in the narrow curve, and then also Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), after a collision with Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – and the Safety Car came on the track again in the event of overturning events. When the field had threaded out, Gelb led Norris ahead of Piatri, Hamilton, Verstappen, Albon and Russell.
Antonelli was only eleventh, and the fact that Verstappen was occupied for uncertain approval with ten second penalty was at best a weak consolation for him. When Antonelli was annoyed by the lost pole chance on the boxing radio, Toto Wolff comforted him: “Minirenen, Kimi. Not relevant.”
In retrospect, Piatri is annoyed that he lost the lead through the last Safety car phase: “I have the feeling that I did everything right. Then it is disappointing. But that’s how it works.”