Miami, Sprint qualifying: Lando Norris dominates, second Antonelli. Leclerc and Hamilton drop in the final
It will be Lando Norris who will start from the first grid position in the Miami Sprint Race scheduled at 6 p.m. Italian time on Saturday. The reigning world champion confirmed McLaren’s progress by setting the fastest time (1:27.869) in the decisive SQ3, in which Kimi Antonelli, just in extremis, managed to break the Papaya duopoly with his Mercedes by setting the second best time and ousting, from the front row, Oscar Piastri by just 17 thousandths.
In fourth place was the first of the two Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc, who after good impressions in free practice and the first two sessions of Sprint qualifying dropped in Q3, having to settle for the second row. Similar discourse for Lewis Hamilton, who will start even further back, from seventh position, anticipated by Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and George Russell (Mercedes). Closing out the Top 10 are a surprising Franco Colapinto in Alpine, the other Red Bull of Isack Hadjar and the second Alpine in the qualifying order, that of Pierre Gasly.
The Audis of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg, the Haas of Ollie Bearman, the Williams of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz and the Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad, on the other hand, did not make it past SQ2, and will therefore start from 11th to 16th. Out after SQ1, and thus forced to positions from seventeenth onward, were the other Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson, the Haas of Esteban Ocon, the Cadillacs of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas and the disappointing Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, who were not officially classified because their time was 107 percent higher than the best at the end of the first timed session.
The Miami Sprint Race will be run at 6 p.m. Italian time (12 p.m. local time), with live free-to-air TV on Tv8, via satellite on Sky Sports and streaming on Now. Same channels for qualifying for the Gp, scheduled at 10 p.m. Italian (4 p.m. local) on Saturday. The race, on the other hand, will be run on Sunday at 10 p.m. Italian time, with live via satellite on Sky Sport and streaming on Now and delayed at 11:30 p.m. on Tv8.
