Lando Norris takes pole for the Sprint Race, with a post-session PENALTY shaking things up: here’s the STARTING GRID for the F1 Sprint in Miami.
The first real verdict of the Miami weekend is in: Norris will start from pole position in Saturday’s Sprint Race, ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli and his teammate Oscar Piastri. Ferrari failed to make the expected impact despite the 11 updates brought to the track, with Charles Leclerc in fourth and Lewis Hamilton in seventh.
How the session unfolded: summary
SQ1 opened with Charles Leclerc setting the early pace, just 0.022s ahead of Antonelli. Then came the McLarens of Norris and Piastri to shake things up. Eliminated in SQ1: Liam Lawson, Esteban Ocon, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, with Aston Martin continuing a nightmare season (just 9 laps combined, Stroll without a time and Alonso 12 seconds off the leader).
In SQ2, Leclerc remained the fastest among the top teams, the only one to improve on his second run. Norris made a major mistake in the middle sector but still managed to reach SQ3. Eliminated: Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg, Oliver Bearman, Alexander Albon, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Arvid Lindblad.
SQ3 left no doubts: Norris was the fastest on a track that suits him perfectly, Antonelli confirmed both his and Mercedes’ strong form, while Piastri bounced back after a slow start to the season. Ferrari followed from P4 and P7, with Max Verstappen and George Russell in between.
F1, Sprint penalties
A major twist this Saturday morning: Alexander Albon drops from P14 to P19. The reason is unusual: FIA stewards deleted his best SQ1 lap for track limits (not detected at the time, but only later). Without that lap, the Williams driver lost five positions.
The more painful consequence affected Liam Lawson: the first driver eliminated in SQ1 had already returned to his car minutes before SQ2, believing he had advanced, only to discover he hadn’t. A major oversight from the stewards that effectively denied Lawson a place in the next session.
The starting grid for the Miami Sprint
- Lando Norris – McLaren
- Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes
- Oscar Piastri – McLaren
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull
- George Russell – Mercedes
- Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari
- Franco Colapinto – Alpine
- Isack Hadjar – Red Bull
- Pierre Gasly – Alpine
- Gabriel Bortoleto – Audi
- Nico Hulkenberg – Audi
- Oliver Bearman – Haas
- Carlos Sainz – Williams
- Arvid Lindblad – Racing Bulls
- Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls
- Esteban Ocon – Haas
- Sergio Perez – Cadillac
- Alexander Albon – Williams (PENALTY)
- Valtteri Bottas – Cadillac
Photos: Formula 1
