Formula 1 News: Norris leads Superior McLarens 1-2 in Miami Sprint

In front of a sun-drenched packed grandstands at the Miami International Autodrome, Lando Norris led flag-to-flag in his superior #1 Rob Marshall-designed McLaren to win the 19-lap Miami GP Sprint race.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Polesitter Norris beat his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri by 3.766s. Piastri was under pressure by the #16 Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who got within 0.5s of the superior McLaren, but then made a couple of mistakes and finished 2.485s behind the Australian.

“It was a good Sprint, nice to be back on the top step,” said Norris. “Our [upgrades] have really helped. It was hot out there, it was sweaty, I was still pushing. A nice start to the weekend, but now I have to do it all again.”

“I think obviously a little bit to find to try and stay with Lando, but overall a good day,” said a disappointed Piastri.

George Russell was 4th in his #63 Mercedes, 12.95s behind Norris, and more importantly he beat his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli.  He passed Antonelli, but then Antonelli passed him back. However, after the race ended Antonelli received a 5s penalty for exceeding track limits too many times and dropped to 6th.

Max Verstappen rounded out the top-5 for Red Bull-Ford. He was gaining on Russell’s Mercedes and finished just 0.688s behind at the flag. Verstappen outdueled Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari after losing a position at the start to the Ferrari at the start. Verstappen’s car was not as fast as the Ferrari, but the more talented Dutchman gave him a driving lesson once again.

“At the start, I had the same problem again as in China,” said Verstappen. “That is just still not good. In the first lap, I didn’t have any boost coming out of the last corner. Something went wrong there, and that was the reason I lost a place to Lewis.” “After that, I just drove my race and was able to catch up again after I had resolved the issues with the engine settings.”

Pierre Gasly grabbed the final point on offer for Alpine with a solid run to eighth, followed by the other Red Bull of Isack Hadjar and team mate Franco Colapinto – the latter two involved in their own exciting scrap over the final few laps.

So, McLaren have shown they can win in the right conditions, and once again, the team have nailed their upgrade package.

Ferrari are still very much in the mix, Verstappen was able to battle with the top teams on merit, and Mercedes looked vulnerable.

All of which makes Qualifying later on incredibly exciting. Clean air looks to be everything this year, so grid position is important – especially at street tracks where overtaking is tricky.

2016 Miami GP Sprint Race Results – 19 Laps