After a month without racing, due to cancellations in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Formula One made its much-awaited return to action in Miami for a sprint weekend. Many teams capitalized on the race-free month to develop some upgrades for their machinery, bringing the competition closer together.
Only 20 cars lined up on the starting grid. Nico Hulkenberg was forced to watch the race from the garage, as his Ferrari-powered Audi came to a fiery stop at turn 17 on the way to the grid. Arvid Lindblad was set to start the race from the pit lane, but failed to start due to a technical issue.
Kimi Antonelli picked up where he left off in April with another poor start from the front row of the grid, converting the race into a McLaren 1-2 early on. Antonelli dropped as low as P5 before the first corner, but fought back around the outside against teammate George Russell to retake P4.
A few rows behind, Lewis Hamilton tried to overtake Max Verstappen on the outside of the first corner, as the Dutchman also had a slower start. The battle turned three-wide as Franco Colapinto positioned his Alpine alongside on the inside of the corner. Trapped in the middle, Verstappen was banging wheels with both drivers. Colapinto backed out, and Verstappen managed to hold position in the opening corners. Hamilton got by the Red Bull driver later in the lap.
Antonelli was battling with Charles Leclerc in the opening laps, but eventually began to drop back. On lap seven, Russell overtook his teammate. He held that lead for less than a lap, as Antonelli retook the position on the run down to the hairpin at turn 11.
As the two Mercedes drivers battled, Hamilton and Verstappen found themselves directly behind. As Antonelli overtook Russell, Verstappen attempted to overtake Hamilton with a late braking move on the inside of the hairpin. He couldn’t get his Red Bull turned in, running himself and Hamilton off the circuit. He gave back the position at the end of the lap, but did manage to overtake the Ferrari a couple of laps later with a much cleaner move in the same corner.
In the closing stages of the race, Leclerc began to chase down Oscar Piastri, who was running in P2. The Ferrari was within a second of the McLaren ahead, but couldn’t get close enough to challenge. On the penultimate lap, it appeared Leclerc may have pushed his car too hard. He ran wide in turn 11 and then again in turn 17, suggesting that maybe his brakes were struggling. This nullified any chance of a last-lap battle, securing P3 for Leclerc.
It was a 1-2 finish for McLaren as Lando Norris cruised across the line for an easy sprint victory. This was the Brit’s first pole position and victory since taking the World Championship title at the end of last season.
Antonelli had finished the race in P4, but was handed a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits in turn 11. This dropped him down two positions, promoting Russell and Verstappen and costing him precious points in his championship bid.
The racing continues in Miami tomorrow for the main event, where the real points will be up for grabs.
UPDATE: Gabriel Bortoleto was disqualified from the race due to a technical violation. Under the regulations, engine air intake pressure must be lower than 4.8barA at all times. Two FIA monitoring devices recorded that the Audi exceeded this permitted pressure. A representative from the team explained that the violation occurred over one lap when the engine temperatures were higher than expected and that the team acted swiftly to correct the issue. However, the violation warranted a disqualification from the results.
| 1 | K. Antonelli | 75 |  | |
| 2 | G. Russell | 68 | -7 | |
| 3 | C. Leclerc | 55 | -20 | |
| 4 | L. Hamilton | 43 | -32 | |
| 5 | L. Norris | 33 | -42 | |
| 1 | Mercedes | 143 | | |
| 2 | Ferrari | 98 | -45 | |
| 3 | McLaren | 61 | -82 | |
| 4 | Red Bull | 20 | -123 |  |
| 5 | Haas | 18 | -125 |  |
