Lando Norris has won the Miami sprint! The McLaren driver got off to a good start from pole and then never gave up the lead in the shortened race. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen went head-to-head with Lewis Hamilton. The world champion came out on top and finished sixth. Shortly after the session ended, it was announced that Andrea Kimi Antonelli received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits, which allowed the Dutchman to move up a place.

Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had a great start, quickly running in first and second place in the race. The big loser was championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Once again, the W17 Mercedes in the hands of the young Italian had a poor start, dropping back to fourth place. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen soon encountered Lewis Hamilton on the track in the battle for sixth place. The Dutchman had fallen back to seventh at the start.

Norris meanwhile began to extend his lead at the front of the field, and after six laps was already two seconds ahead of his teammate. However, problems began to resurface on Verstappen’s RB22. “I can’t really brake,” came the world champion’s radio message. “The rear axle is going up and down.” The Dutchman was responsible for most of the action during the shortened race. For laps he fought fiercely with old rival Hamilton, with the two even going off track briefly. Verstappen gave back the gained position, but was ahead of the Brit again by lap ten.

The Mercedes drivers also battled each other, with Kimi Antonelli seeming to come out on top. Charles Leclerc meanwhile caught up to second place Piastri. With four laps to go, the Monegasque launched an attack on the McLaren driver, but could not get past the Australian. Verstappen also drove up to fifth place Russell, but just fell short of mounting an attack on the Mercedes driver. The Dutchman finished the sprint in sixth place, but was able to move up a place due to Kimi Antonelli’s time penalty. The young Italian dropped from fourth to sixth for exceeding the track limits.

Later today, the qualifying for the GP Miami will also take place. It starts at 22:00 Dutch time.