The Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix weekend brought plenty of action, with the sprint adding an extra challenge for the five British drivers. Here’s a round-up of how they got on.
Lando Norris
The reigning world champion had the best weekend of the Brits. He and McLaren hit the ground running, taking Sprint pole.
In Saturday’s sprint, Norris pulled away early and controlled the race to take his first win of the season in any format. It also showed clear improvement from McLaren, who have admitted they struggled at the start of the season.
In Grand Prix qualifying, though, McLaren couldn’t find the same gains as their rivals, leaving Norris to settle for fourth on the grid.
Sunday’s race started three hours earlier due to the threat of thunderstorms heading towards the Miami street circuit later in the day.
At lights out, Norris avoided the chaos and quickly moved into a battle at the front with Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli. He and the Mercedes soon dropped the Ferrari, turning it into a two-horse race out front.
Mercedes then made the decisive call to undercut the leading McLaren, which helped Antonelli take the win. Norris had to settle for second, but still picked up his first Grand Prix podium of the season.
The result moves him up to fourth in the drivers’ standings after a strong points haul in Miami.
George Russell
Russell lacked pace compared to his teammate for much of the weekend, with Mercedes calling Miami a “bogey” circuit for the Brit.
He qualified sixth for the sprint, four tenths behind Antonelli, lining up just behind Max Verstappen in fifth.
He responded with a much stronger sprint, climbing to fourth ahead of Verstappen and getting past his teammate at the start as Antonelli dropped back.
That gap reappeared in Grand Prix qualifying. While Antonelli took pole, Russell could only manage fifth.
He looked set to finish there in the race, but a late spin from Leclerc gave him the chance to close in and make the pass for fourth.
Even so, Antonelli’s third straight win underlined the gap, and Russell missed the podium for the second race running.
Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari brought the biggest upgrade package of the weekend, introducing 11 new parts and raising hopes they could close the gap to the front. While the car improved, so did everyone else, and Hamilton paid the price.
He finished seventh in both sprint qualifying and the sprint itself, and went into the Grand Prix still searching for answers.
That trend continued in qualifying, where he could only manage sixth.
In the race, Hamilton made a good start but had to take evasive action when Verstappen spun at Turn 2.
That dropped him behind Franco Colapinto’s Alpine. When he tried a move later in the lap, the pair made contact, leaving Hamilton with floor damage.
From there, he couldn’t recover. However, a 20-second post-race penalty for his teammate promoted him from seventh to sixth.
Oliver Bearman
Haas seem to have lost their early-season edge over the midfield during the break between Japan and Miami.
That left Bearman fighting further down the order than in the opening rounds, making it a tougher weekend overall.
He qualified 13th for the sprint and only moved up to 12th across the 19 laps.
In Grand Prix qualifying, he matched that result, starting 13th again. He gained a place in the race, but the Williams duo claimed the final points-paying positions, leaving Bearman just outside in 11th.
Arvid Lindblad
The rookie endured another difficult weekend and once again left without points.
He qualified 15th for the sprint but couldn’t start due to a technical issue.
Things didn’t improve from there. He exited in Q1 in Grand Prix qualifying after finishing 16th, and in the race he struggled to move forward, crossing the line in 14th.
What’s next?
It feels like F1 has only just come back, but there’s already a short break before the next round. The championship heads to Canada on May 22nd–24th.
Main image: Ferrari Media
