An emotional Lando Norris after winning his maiden Formula One race at Miami in 2024. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Miami will always be special for Lando Norris after taking his first Formula One win there last year but McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri could have more to celebrate when they race again this weekend.
Piastri seized the championship lead from the Briton by winning in Saudi Arabia and the second sprint weekend of the season gives the Australian a chance to stretch the 10 point gap between them.
The unflappable 24-year-old, now the bookmakers' title favourite, takes the momentum to the Hard Rock Stadium complex as he chases a third successive victory and fourth of the season from six races.
Piastri's self-assured no-fuss attitude, compared to Norris' habit of open self-criticism, has convinced several old F1 hands that he is ready for take-off.
"He (Piastri) is without a doubt a future world champion," Australia's 1980 champion Alan Jones told Fox Sports this week.
"He can do it this year, no question. At the end of the day, his teammate is weak. His teammate is quite quick, there's no doubt about that. But mentally, I think he's quite a weak person."
Norris has his supporters, those who see his openness as a strength, but he also needs to reassert himself after a recent run of setbacks.
Hot and humid Miami, where he triumphed from fifth place on the grid last year, would be as good a place as any to bounce back.
"I have confidence. The pace is there. I made my life too tough on Saturday," the Briton said after finishing fourth in Saudi Arabia.
McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"I have to work on my Saturdays and if I work on my Saturdays I am pretty confident I can get back to where I was."
Saturday this time will be a points-paying day with the 100km sprint worth eight to the winner, but McLaren cannot assume the chase for victory will be between their drivers.
Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen is a two-times winner in Miami, was on pole there last year and is still only 12 points adrift of Piastri after winning in Japan and finishing runner-up in Jeddah.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton won the only other sprint so far this season, in China in March, with Piastri second and Norris eighth.
The Australian went on to win the main race from pole position in a McLaren one-two on Sunday.
Hamilton has struggled since that first win in Ferrari overalls and the seven-times world champion sounded downbeat after Jeddah, suggesting it was "going to be painful" for the rest of the year.
The six drivers who started their first full season in March will all be driving in Miami for the first time, with Alpine's Jack Doohan, Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto and Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson seeking their first points of the campaign.
New Zealand driver Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls, 2025. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Formula One statistics for the Miami Grand Prix at the Hard Rock Stadium complex
Round six of the 24-race championship:
- Lap distance: 5.412km. Total distance: 308.326km (57 laps)
- 2024 pole position: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull one minute, 27.241 seconds
- 2024 winner: Lando Norris (Britain) McLaren
- 2024 sprint winner: Verstappen
- Lap record: Verstappen, 1:29.708 (2023)
Miami
The race is the fourth to be held at the Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens.
Verstappen won the first two in 2022 and 2023 and Norris took his first career F1 win there last year from fifth on the grid.
Miami is the first of three US rounds on the calendar, with Austin and Las Vegas, and is being held in the sprint format for the second time. There is no US driver on the starting grid.
The Hard Rock Stadium is usually home to the Miami Dolphins NFL team.
The temporary anti-clockwise street circuit has three straights and 19 corners, with cars reaching top speeds of 340km/h.
The track surface was relaid in 2023 and is very smooth. Temperatures and humidity are high, exceeding 55 degrees Celsius last year. The strategy has generally been one stop.
Miami is the only race on the current calendar that Mercedes have yet to win.
Each year has seen a different driver on pole so far - Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Sergio Perez (Red Bull) and Verstappen. The race has yet to be won from pole.
Championship
McLaren's Oscar Piastri leads the drivers' championship by 10 points from teammate Lando Norris. Verstappen is a further two behind.
Leaders and champions McLaren are 77 points clear of Mercedes and 99 ahead of Red Bull.
[Race wins]
Piastri has won three of the last four races and is chasing his third victory in a row after Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Norris and Verstappen have won once each this year.
Hamilton has a record 105 career victories from 361 starts. Verstappen has won 64 grands prix and is third on the all-time list after Michael Schumacher on 91.
[Pole position]
Norris, Piastri (twice) and Verstappen (twice) have been on pole so far this season. Norris has only twice started on the front row in five races.
Hamilton has a record 104 career poles, his most recent in Hungary in 2023.
[Rookies]
Three of the six drivers starting a season for the first time have scored so far - Andrea Kimi Antonelli for Mercedes, Oliver Bearman for Haas and Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar.
Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber), Jack Doohan (Alpine) and Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) have yet to open their accounts.
[Milestone]
Piastri is the first Australian to lead the standings since Mark Webber in 2010.
Miami schedule (times NZ)
Saturday May 3, 4:30am Practice 1
8:30am Sprint Qualifying
Sunday May 4, 4am Sprint Race
8am Qualifying
Monday May 5, 8am Race
-Reuters
