Lando Norris delivered a commanding lights-to-flag performance to win Saturday’s Sprint at the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, leading all 19 laps from pole at the Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Florida. The reigning world champion headed a McLaren one-two ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completing the podium. It was the first race of any kind this season not won by a Mercedes driver and the first podium without a Mercedes representative.
Piastri, the defending Miami Grand Prix winner, finished 3.766-seconds behind Norris. The 3.36-mile circuit encircling Hard Rock Stadium has been a fruitful venue for Norris and McLaren; it was where the Briton claimed his maiden F1 victory in 2024. After the Sprint, Norris received his trophy from NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, just back from leading that historical trip around the moon.
“Perfect way to start the weekend,’’ said Norris, who received his winning hardware from NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, just back from leading that historical trip around the moon. “Probably the first weekend all year I‘ve not had any drama,’’ Norris said. “Could just go out and do my program and learn from the beginning and not feel like I’m a step behind on anything.’’
Piastri was upbeat about McLaren’s step forward. “Clearly still a little bit to find, but as Lando said, the car is a really good step forward this weekend and to be able to have that kind of pace today and yesterday has been a welcome return to form.,’’ said Piastri, who finished runner-up in the last F1 grand prix, at Japan. “Now have to keep it going, obviously. Good start to the weekend and to the day.’’
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli crossed the line fourth but was penalized five seconds for exceeding track limits, dropping the Mercedes driver to sixth in the final classification. That promoted his teammate George Russell to fourth and two-time Miami race winner Max Verstappen to fifth.
Elsewhere, Cadillac F1’s American debut resulted in a 14th-place finish for Sergio Perez and 19th for Valtteri Bottas in the 22-car field.
“We know that we are a little out of sync with our upgrades compared to other teams,’’ Toto Wolff said. “We were hoping we were going to be able to hold on to our advantage and in terms of pure lap times, we were close to the pace at the front in the Sprint. But if you have a bad getaway, which wasn’t at all Kimi’s fault but was an issue on our side, it is going to be difficult to fight back.
“This season is going to be a pure development race and whoever brings a few tenths before their competitors will gain an advantage.’’
Leclerc, whose Ferrari topped Thursday’s opening practice, welcomed the early signs from updated technical regulations introduced this week but urged caution with rain a possibility for Sunday’s 4 p.m. race. “The steps the FIA have taken have made it better,’’ Leclerc said of the technical upgrades teams received this week. “Will there be any more problems? I’m not sure.’’
Norris also pointed to improved consistency under the revised rules. “The car is just clearly working significantly better, more consistent, more predictable in certain circumstances which is a good thing in any speed or corner so just able to predict things better and change things better from lap to lap,’’ Norris said. ”Before it was a big more ying and yang with how the car might handle so now we can kind of consistently drive at a closer limit to perfection.
“At the end of the day, simply it’s just more grip and the cars are working better. I think it’s taken a good step forward and I just thought I could hit the throttle pedal. A little more aggressively and that’s always a good feeling.’’
What to watch next: all eyes turn to Sunday’s Grand Prix, with weather in the mix, McLaren seeking to convert Sprint form into full points, and Antonelli defending a narrow seven-point championship lead over Russell as the new regulations bed in.
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*Originally published on [News Formula One](https://newsformula.one/article/norris-leads-all-19-laps-to-win-miami-f1-sprint-piastri-2nd). Visit for full coverage.*
