Norris Takes Pole by 0.222s in F1 Sprint Qualifying Miami
Lando Norris topped f1 sprint qualifying miami on Friday and will start the Miami Grand Prix Sprint from pole after a 1m 27.869s lap. He beat Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli by 0.222s and gave McLaren its first P1 grid slot of the season.
Oscar Piastri put another McLaren in third, with Charles Leclerc fourth and Max Verstappen fifth. That front-running order came from the session that set the grid for Saturday’s Sprint, turning one fast lap into the first real starting-point advantage of the Miami weekend.
Norris in front at Miami
The pole lap mattered most in SQ3, where Norris delivered the quickest time after already escaping trouble earlier in the session. He had been in the elimination zone in SQ1 before moving to P1 on a 1m 28.273s lap with a few minutes left.
Antonelli kept the pressure on but finished second, leaving Norris with the cleanest opening for Saturday’s Sprint. Piastri followed in third, so McLaren left qualifying with two cars near the front and the sharpest grid result of the season so far.
Stroll’s stop in SQ1
Friday’s session began at 1630 local time, and the first complication arrived in SQ1 when Lance Stroll stopped at Turn 17 after a heavy lock-up and brought out a yellow flag. He got his Aston Martin going again, but the interruption added another layer to a segment already run on the mandatory medium tyres.
That early scare helped shape the order behind the front row. Charles Leclerc had set the pace in the weekend’s extended sole practice session, but Sprint Qualifying shifted the balance once Norris found his rhythm late and moved clear of danger.
Midfield order and fallout
Behind the top six, Franco Colapinto took eighth, Isack Hadjar ninth and Pierre Gasly tenth, while Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg missed SQ3 in 11th and 12th. Lewis Hamilton finished seventh, and the lower half of the field was headed by Liam Lawson in 17th, who described his session as “a series of bad events”.
Further back, Carlos Sainz was 15th, Arvid Lindblad 16th, Esteban Ocon 18th, Sergio Perez 19th, Valtteri Bottas 20th, Fernando Alonso 21st and Stroll 22nd. For Saturday’s Sprint, the front row belongs to Norris and Antonelli, with McLaren carrying the strongest starting position into the second Sprint of the season.
