Miami - Sprint

The Saturday began with an absolute downpour on the Miami track. The rain caused issues long before the sprint could start, as Charles Leclerc crashed on his way to the grid. There wasn't much he could do to save his situation when, on turn 10, his car drove through a patch of standing water. Due to the extent of damage to his Ferrari, he was out of the sprint.

The remaining 19 drivers line up for the formation lap, with the intermediate tire as the tire of choice. They didn't get far. The starting procedure was quickly suspended due to the terrible visibility brought on by the rain. A red flag waved over the circuit, and the beginning of the sprint was pushed back until 12:28 local time. 

Immediately after the standing start, Piastri began attacking Antonelli. The young Italian couldn't hold his position and went off track. The detour caused him to fall all the way to P4, letting Piastri, Norris, and Verstappen through. Behind him, Russell, Hamilton, Albon, and Alonso occupied the remaining scoring positions. 

The race didn't truly begin until the drivers began talking to their race engineers about the possibility of switching to slick tires. Tsunoda was the first to take on the risk of pitting and, on lap 11, bolted on a set of mediums. His decision opened the doors for other drivers. Hamilton, Stroll, and Sainz all followed his lead only a lap later. The Ferrari strategists decided to give their driver a chance on the softest available compound. 

Verstappen and Antonelli both pitted a lap later. Since the Dutchman was a few spots ahead, by the time Antonelli made his way through the pit lane, he was already ready to drive out. Due to a mistake made by his team, Verstappen was released at the wrong time. His car made contact with Antonelli's Mercedes, which proved disastrous for both drivers. The Dutchman damaged his car and was later handed a 10-second penalty for the unsafe release. Antonelli didn't get a chance to pit on the lap he was supposed to and was forced to make a second tour into the pits a lap later. He fell out of the points and finished the race in 10th.

As the incident was happening, Sainz made contact with the wall and punctured one of his rear tires. He brought out a yellow flag, but managed to drive to the pits on his own, giving the others a chance to continue racing. And race they did. Hamilton, with his fresh, soft tires, was quick to make his way up the field. Meanwhile, Norris began putting Piastri under pressure for the lead.

Their fight wasn't truly resolved by lap 14 when Piastri pitted. Norris, the temporary leader, was set to do the same thing a lap later. As he moved through the pit lane, the sprint got flipped on its head. After a fight with Lawson, Alonso hit the wall, totaling his car and causing a full safety car to be called onto the track. Since Norris managed to make it to the order-deciding point before Piastri did, despite coming out of the pit lane, he was the one who became the leader.

Since the safety car didn't leave the track until the very end of the last lap, Norris was the one who crossed the checkered flag first. He was followed by Piastri and Hamilton, who managed to make up 4 places thanks to Ferrari's formidable strategy. 

Order of the grid:

1. Lando Norris

2. Oscar Piastri

3. Lewis Hamilton

4. Alex Albon

5. George Russell

6. Lance Stroll

7. Liam Lawson

8. Oliver Bearman

9. Yuki Tsunoda

10. Kimi Antonelli

11. Pierre Gasly

12. Nico Hulkenberg

13. Isack Hadjar

14. Esteban Ocon

15. Gabriel Bortoleto

16. Jack Doohan

17. Max Verstappen

DNF: Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz

DNS: Charles Leclerc