Fans at the Miami International Autodrome were treated to a spectacular day of action on and off the track, featuring a dramatic, rain-hit Sprint race, an ultra-competitive Qualifying session, and high-energy musical performances. In the climax to the day’s proceedings, Max Verstappen secured pole position for Sunday’s FORMULA 1 CRYPTO.COM MIAMI GRAND PRIX, setting a new lap record of 1m26.204s around the 3.3-mile circuit.
The Red Bull driver edged out Lando Norris by just 0.065s, with Kimi Antonelli in an impressive third — only two-thousandths of a second further back. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri could only manage fourth ahead of George Russell, while the two Williams cars followed. Charles Leclerc was next, while his Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton was the surprise of the session, failing to reach the Q3 top ten shootout by just 0.003s.
Verstappen, who earned the 43rd pole of his F1 career — and welcomed the birth of his daughter, Lily, earlier this week — joked: “Clearly being a dad doesn’t make me any slower!” He added: “It was a great qualifying. We made a small change to help rotate the car better and we improved with every run. I had a tiny moment at Turn 1 on the final lap, but it worked out.”
Second-placed Norris made a slight mistake at Turn 17, locking up his wheel at the final corner on his first run and running over the inside kerbs on his last attempt. “Congrats to Max — especially on becoming a dad. I was hoping that might slow him down a bit, but clearly not,” Norris said. “I’m happy with today and the progress I’m making. I’m ready for whatever tomorrow brings — dry or wet.”
Earlier in the day, the Miami International Autodrome experienced its first-ever wet Formula 1 session and the conditions only added to the drama. Norris claimed victory in Saturday’s Sprint, making the most of a late Safety Car to emerge ahead of the field in a chaotic race packed with incidents, lead changes and tire strategy gambles.
Originally scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m. local time, the Sprint was delayed after just two laps behind the Safety Car due to the track being too wet. A red flag was shown, sending cars back to the pits for a 30-minute delay. But the chaos had already started, after Leclerc had already lost control of his Ferrari on the back straight during his reconnaissance lap — the damage forcing him out of the Sprint.
When racing got underway, Piastri passed 18-year-old pole-sitter Antonelli into Turn 1. The Mercedes rookie ran wide and dropped to fourth on the opening lap. Piastri led from Norris and Verstappen, but with the sun breaking through and the track drying, the race became a strategic battle over when to switch from intermediates to slicks. Hamilton, running in sixth, was one of the first to take the gamble, pitting at the end of Lap 11. He dropped to 15th but quickly began setting sector times two seconds faster than the leaders. The move paid off, and he vaulted to third as others responded.
Drama unfolded when Verstappen and Antonelli pitted simultaneously. Verstappen was released into the path of the Mercedes, causing contact that blocked the rookie access to his pit box, forcing him to complete another lap on wets. The stewards later handed Verstappen a 10-second penalty, dropping him from fourth to last in the final results.
Piastri pitted for slicks on Lap 14, while Norris stayed out. The next lap, as Norris dived into the pits, a Safety Car was deployed after Fernando Alonso had hit the wall opposite the Hard Rock Beach Club, following contact from Liam Lawson’s pink-liveried Racing Bulls car. Carlos Sainz also suffered damage, striking the wall at the chicane entrance and damaging his left-rear wheel. The timing worked perfectly for Norris, who rejoined ahead of his McLaren teammate to take the lead — which he held as the race ended under caution. But it was Hamilton, in third, who had made the best of the conditions.
“The crowd has been amazing today,” said Hamilton after stepping out of his Ferrari. “I didn’t think it would ever rain here, but what a race we had. I struggled on inters and decided to roll the dice — and it worked. Wish we had a couple more laps, but congrats to McLaren.”
Rain also impacted the F1 ACADEMY qualifying session this morning. American Chloe Chambers was first on track and secured pole with a 2m00.458s lap before the rain arrived. Alisha Palmowski was second, with Emma Lloyd just 0.076s off top spot in fourth as no one improved on their second laps due to the worsening conditions.
The afternoon’s F1 ACADEMY reverse-grid race was held in dry conditions and delivered more excitement. Doriane Pin took victory after passing reverse-grid pole-sitter Emma Felbermayr on lap four. She held off a late challenge from Palmowski to take the win. Chambers completed the podium, leaping from eighth to fourth at Turn 1 thanks to a first-corner incident. McLaren’s Ella Lloyd misjudged her braking and hit front-row starter Rafaela Ferreira, prompting a Safety Car. Race 2 of F1 ACADEMY gets underway tomorrow at 1:05 p.m.
Off track, the party atmosphere was in full swing across the Miami Campus. Fans were treated to A-list performances from Kaskade and Steve Aoki at the Hard Rock Beach Club. More major acts are scheduled for Sunday, including DJ Tiësto from the grid gantry before the race and the podium after the race, and GRAMMY® Award-winning artist and Miami native Pitbull performing after the main event to round off an unforgettable weekend in Miami Gardens.
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