2025 Miami GP sprint results - Norris benefits from safety car again to win

Lando Norris won a delayed Miami Grand Prix sprint race after benefitting from a late safety to emerge in the lead, in a repeat of the 2024 Formula 1 race.

The McLaren driver was running behind team-mate Oscar Piastri with three laps to go when they both pitted for slicks after the rain had forced everybody to start on intermediates.

But a lucky safety car period as Norris pitted helped him emerge in the lead after making his stop a lap later than Piastri, who had led the race from the start.

Lewis Hamilton finished third for Ferrari after Max Verstappen, third on the road at the chequered flag, received a 10-second penalty for an unsafe release.

Alexander Albon was fourth for Williams, ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell. Team-mate and pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli crossed the tenth after a difficult day, but would improve after penalties were applied to other drivers.

The race finished behind the safety car.

Verstappen had escaped a penalty early on despite being noted for having placed the front wheels of his car ahead of his grid box. But the world champion was hit with a 10-second penalty later on for an unsafe release in which he hit Antonelli as they both pitted. He was one of four drivers to be penalised in the race.

Torrential rain before the start left the circuit very wet. Charles Leclerc didn’t even make it to the grid after drifting into the wall on his way to line up, the Ferrari driver hitting standing water and sliding into the barriers at high speed, causing significant damage to his car.

As the remaining drivers completed the formation lap behind the safety car, they complained about the lack of visibility and the rivers on track.

“This visibility is genuinely the worst I’ve ever had in a race car,” said Piastri on the radio.

Verstappen even went off track following the safety car, although he managed to rejoin and return to his position.

After just one lap of running behind the safety car, the red flag was deployed.

The race got underway again at 12:28 local time, with all drivers on intermediate tyres running two laps behind the safety car before a standing start.

Antonelli made a worse start than Piastri and arrived side-by-side at Turn 1, the Mercedes driver going off track and dropping down the order to fourth as the McLaren driver led from Norris and Verstappen.

“He pushed me off,” complained Antonelli on the radio.

The incident was noted by the stewards, but there was no further investigation.

From there, Piastri controlled the race with apparent ease and quickly opened a gap to Norris as the track started to dry up.

Yuki Tsunoda was the first driver to switch to slick tyres on lap 11, as the DRS was finally enabled. Several drivers also made the switch to soft tyres as the track was nearly fully dry, something which appeared to benefit Norris, who closed the gap on Piastri before they pitted for slicks, the Australian a lap earlier than the Briton.

Verstappen made his pitstop on lap 13, but as he rejoined the pitlane, he made contact with the Mercedes of Antonelli, damaging the front wing of his Red Bull.

The incident meant that Antonelli was unable to complete his pitstop as he was forced to drive straight out the pitlane, losing many places when he finally completed his stop a lap later.

The safety car was deployed on lap 15 when Fernando Alonso crashed his Aston Martin after being spun by Liam Lawson right after Norris had pitted, the Briton benefitting to emerge in the lead just like in 2024’s main race.

Carlos Sainz also crashed against the wall on lap 15 and had to crawl back to the pits with a punctured rear left tyre.

Others lost out after the race: Alex Albon was given a 5sec penalty for driving too slowly during the safety car period, which dropped him from fourth to 11th.

Lawson’s role in the Alonso crash also cost him 5sec, which meant he lost the points for finishing seventh and was classified 13th. Another 5sec penalty was issued to Oliver Bearman for an unsafe release from his pitstop. He was demoted from eighth place — and the single chamnpioonship point that came with it — to 14th.

2025 Miami GP sprint results

*includes 5sec penalty
*includes 10sec penalty