Norris seizes pole position in Miami Sprint Qualifying ahead of Antonelli and Piastri

Lando Norris has stormed to pole position in Sprint Qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix as the McLaren driver grabbed the team’s first P1 grid slot of the season ahead of championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

After displaying good pace during SQ1 and SQ2, Norris continued his solid form by going fastest of all in what proved to be a one-lap shootout in the final segment, the Briton pumping in an effort of 1m 27.869s.

This put him 0.222s clear of Mercedes’ Antonelli, while the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri was only narrowly behind in third. Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari in fourth – having also looked quick during the session – followed by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

George Russell was sixth in the sister Silver Arrows car – some six tenths away from Norris – while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton took seventh. The Alpines of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly claimed P8 and P10, with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar slotting between them in P9.

The Audi pair of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg missed out on the top 10, exiting SQ2 in P11 and P12, with Haas’ Ollie Bearman also finding himself out of the running in P13.

Williams also experienced a double exit in the second segment as Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz took 14th and 15th – sparking some unhappy radio comments from the latter – putting them ahead of Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad.

The sister Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson was pushed out of SQ1 in P17 ahead of Haas’ Esteban Ocon, while the Cadillacs of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas wound up in P19 and P20 respectively on the team’s first home weekend.

The Aston Martin pair of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, meanwhile, rounded out the order at the back of the field in 21st and 22nd places.

AS IT HAPPENED

SQ1 – Norris sets the early benchmark

A few hours on from Leclerc setting the pace in the weekend’s extended sole practice session, the drivers and teams reassembled for Friday’s Sprint Qualifying in order to decide the grid for the second Sprint of the season on Saturday.

While there was no initial queue in the pit lane when the green light appeared for SQ1 at 1630 local time, a gaggle of drivers soon headed out on track within moments of the opening 12-minute segment getting underway, all sporting the mandatory medium tyres.

Championship leader Antonelli was amongst those preparing to leave the garage, before having to hold back as team mate Russell went first instead, with both likely keen to get out following some issues for Mercedes in FP1.

A yellow flag was thrown at around the halfway point of the session after Stroll looked to have stopped at Turn 17, the Canadian experiencing a heavy lock-up that sent him off the track. Fortunately he was able to get his Aston Martin going again as the session continued.

With a few minutes left on the clock, Leclerc was again at the top of the timesheets ahead of Antonelli and Hamilton, while the names at risk in the elimination zone were Colapinto, Lindblad, Norris, Alonso, Lawson and Stroll.

Norris subsequently got himself well out of danger by storming to P1 on a 1m 28.273s, just under half a second ahead of fellow McLaren racer Piastri. Meanwhile Stroll was seen getting out of his car in the garage, having not set a time at the bottom of the pack.

Elsewhere, Perez had put his Cadillac in P15 for the team’s first home event – but could he maintain that as the field set about improving their efforts? Lindblad and Lawson both climbed up to move out of the bottom six in their yellow-liveried Racing Bulls, while Colapinto had also shot up to P11.

However, better laps from others – including Williams’ Albon – pushed Lawson down to P17, with Ocon, Perez and Bottas also exiting ahead of the Aston Martin pair of Alonso and Stroll. At the other end of the spectrum, Norris remained quickest with an advantage of one hundredth of a second over Leclerc, with the Mercedes duo back in fifth and sixth.

Knocked out: Lawson, Ocon, Perez, Bottas, Alonso, Stroll

SQ2 – Leclerc leads the way from Piastri

Most of the remaining cars were lined up and ready to go when SQ2 began, Antonelli leading the way as the pack filed out for the 10-minute session for which the medium tyres were again mandatory.

This early traffic saw some close moments unfold in the pit lane – including one between Verstappen and Gasly – as drivers tried to find a place in the queue.

At the halfway point, Leclerc had slotted into P1 on a lap of 1m 28.470s – 0.036s ahead of Piastri in second, with Hamilton three tenths behind his team mate in third. Russell sat in fourth, followed by Verstappen and Antonelli. Norris, meanwhile, placed in seventh after experiencing a drift during his effort.

The Audi and Williams cars were amongst those in the bottom six alongside Lindblad and Bearman, the latter pair having yet to set a timed lap – but could any improve in the final minutes?

While Leclerc went even quicker by pumping in a time of 1m 28.333s at the top – with only Piastri within two tenths of that – Bearman’s lap could only lift him to P13 and thus was not enough to get him out of the elimination zone, with those around him also unable to climb into the top 10.

Knocked out: Bortoleto, Hulkenberg, Bearman, Albon, Sainz, Lindblad

SQ3 – Norris beats Antonelli to Sprint pole

As eight minutes went on the clock for SQ3 – which would see the Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes and Alpine pairings go head-to-head for Sprint pole – the track remained quiet as all 10 cars stayed in their garages, pointing to a one-lap shootout on the soft tyres.

It was at around the halfway mark that the drivers started to head out in the hot and sunny conditions of the Miami International Autodrome, with air temperatures reaching 30 degrees Celsius.

With Mercedes seemingly a little off the pace of their upgrade-carrying rivals in the opening segments, would the Silver Arrows strike back this time out? Or could a different team seal pole position for the Sprint?

As the laps came in, Russell initially led Hamilton before Norris shot to the top on a 1m 27.869s, the McLaren driver followed by Leclerc whose effort was three tenths behind. Verstappen then slotted into third – before Piastri pushed both Leclerc and Verstappen down by going second fastest.

Antonelli was the last of the frontrunners to cross the line, and the Italian subsequently split the papaya duo in P2, his time 0.222s back from Norris’ benchmark.

When the order had shaken out, this left Piastri in third ahead of Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton, while Colapinto was the lead Alpine in eighth ahead of Hadjar and Gasly.

Key Quote

"It was great, a perfect result for us," said Norris. "A nice way to reward the team. We've got a lot of new upgrades on the car, so it's nice to feel some grip again and nice to reward the guys and the girls that have put a lot of work into this. I've always loved Miami, both on and off the track. It's a good result for us. Of course, it's just the beginning of the weekend, still a long way to go but nice to kick it off by doing this."

What's next

With the grid decided, the drivers will line up for the Sprint at 1200 local time on Saturday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action.