Dominant Norris beats Piastri in Miami sprint

It was a dominant performance by the reigning world champion, leading from pole to take a lights-to-flag win from his teammate by 3.7s to secure his fourth career sprint victory and his first top-three finish of any kind in 2026.

Piastri vaulted into second off the start from third on the grid and fended off a late challenge from the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc to finish behind his teammate, with Leclerc taking the final podium spot ahead of George Russell and Max Verstappen.

World championship leader Kimi Antonelli finished fourth on track but was handed a five-second penalty for track infringements after the race, dropping him to sixth and crucially allowing teammate Russell to take two points out of his championship lead.

Norris said he was delighted with the win, his first victory of any kind in 2026.

“It was a good race. Nice to be back on the top step, even if it’s the sprint. But a good day for us,” he said.

“A massive job to the team in bringing the upgrades. I know everyone is saying the same thing but ours have really helped this weekend. So happy to get it done for the team.”

 

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The McLaren driver added the hot conditions had made it trickier on track than it may have appeared.

“It was hot out there. It was sweaty,” Norris said.

“I was still pushing, trying to find that balance while pushing, and also being quite relaxed and not making any mistakes.

“So a good start to the weekend but now we have to do it all over again.”

Norris added the team would look to make minor adjustments ahead of qualifying and the race to fend off the expected charge from behind.

“We’ll probably change a couple of things and a couple of things I wanted different from yesterday that we’ll adjust, so hopefully we’ll have a little bit more to come,” he added.

“But I’m sure the others will too. So we’ll just keep our head down and keep pushing.“

Piastri, meanwhile, said he was happy with the result and hopeful of finding additional pace to challenge his teammate through the remainder of the weekend.

“Obviously a little bit to find to try and stay with Lando but no, overall it was a good day, well, good morning obviously,” he said.

“So we’ll try and see what we can do for qualifying. I think everyone else will learn a lot. And so will we.

“So hopefully we can maintain that through the rest of the weekend.”

Leclerc also spoke of being pleased with upgrades brought to Miami, although he expressed disappointment at not being able to challenge further for the win.

“The upgrades worked well. It’s thanks to the team that has done a massive work over this five weeks of break. But I’m satisfied with that,” he said.

“Unfortunately, I’m not satisfied with P3 though. Obviously we wish we were a bit higher but McLaren brought significant upgrades as well and did a big step forward.

“But we are not too far off so I think for tomorrow if we put everything together maybe we can start a bit higher up and it will make our life a little bit easier.”

Mercedes had another poor start to the race, with Antonelli slow off the line for a second consecutive race, swamped by Piastri, Leclerc and teammate Russell to drop to fifth before making his way back past Russell out of Turn 1.

Up front, Norris led Piastri by more than a second after the opening lap, while Antonelli continued his recovery by swarming all over Leclerc, who was quick to jump on the radio in frustration at the young Italian’s antics of moving off the racing line in his passing attempts.

Leclerc was able to edge clear of the Mercedes driver, who fell back towards his teammate, with Russell briefly getting ahead of Antonelli on Lap 8 before being repassed again.

Behind them, Verstappen closed in on the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton, managing to get ahead on Lap 8 into Turn 11 but was deemed to have completed the move with four wheels off track, with Red Bull asking him to give the position back to avoid a penalty. The Dutchman moved back ahead legally a lap later at Turn 17 to take sixth.

On Lap 11, Norris set the fastest lap to extend his advantage to close to three seconds over his teammate, with Leclerc edging closer to Piastri and reducing the gap to less than a second.

The pair exchanged fast lap times over the next five laps, with Piastri stretching the margin to close to two seconds before Leclerc reeled him back in to within half a second on Lap 16.

A move into Turn 11 on Lap 18 didn’t pay off for Leclerc, running off track and dropping back, preventing any further challenge and allowing Piastri to hold on to second, while his teammate remained dominant out front and unchallenged to the flag.

Antonelli and Russell remained close but couldn’t make an impact at the front, with no Mercedes appearing on the podium for the first time in 2026, Antonelli’s five-second penalty compounding a disappointing race for the Brackley squad.

Verstappen held sixth on track at the chequered flag ahead of Hamilton before being promoted to fifth, with Pierre Gasly taking the final point in eighth place.

Elsewhere, Liam Lawson couldn’t make progress from the midfield, finishing just behind the Williams of Carlos Sainz in 15th place.

It was disaster for Audi before the race even began, with Nico Hulkenberg pulling to the side of the road at Turn 17 in a plume of smoke on his installation lap, retiring with an engine failure as the team now rushes to prepare his car for qualifying later in the day.

Arvid Lindblad also failed to take the start of the sprint, with the Brit due to start from the pit lane following a parc ferme breach but unable to make it out on track due to a technical issue.

Qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix begins at 4pm local time (6am AEST).

Results: Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, Sprint