Max Verstappen converted sprint race pole into victory in the sprint race of the Miami Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The championship leader extended his advantage at the top of the table with eight points for victory in the sprint race, three seconds ahead of Leclerc.
Sergio Perez completed the top three behind the Ferrari driver after overtaking Daniel Ricciardo, who had got ahead of him at the start. Carlos Sainz Jnr was fourth after being unable to pass the RB driver, with Oscar Piastri sixth for McLaren, Nico Hulkenberg in seventh for Haas.
Lewis Hamilton originally claimed the final point in eighth after passing Yuki Tsunoda on the final lap. But the Mercedes driver was hit with a post-race drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane during a Safety Car period. That was converted to a 20-second penalty which That dropped Hamilton to 16th place and promoted Tsunoda to the final point in eighth.
Hamilton spent much of the race scrapping with Kevin Magnussen who was hit with four separate time penalties totally 35 seconds for his antics. These were three 10-second penalties for leaving the track and gaining an advantage and one five second penalty for four track limits infringements. The swathe of sanctions demoted the Haas driver from tenths to 18th and last.
Pierre Gasly and Logan Sargeant moved up to ninth and tenth, respectively, as a result of the penalties for Hamilton and Magnussen, but missed out on points.
Lando Norris retired after being the innocent victim of a first corner clash after Hamilton dove to the inside at turn one and hit Fernando Alonso, causing a chain reaction that left the McLaren damaged on the side of the track and damage to both Alonso and Lance Stroll’s Aston Martins. Norris and Stroll retired from their damage, while Alonso fell to the rear after pitting. The stewards decided that no investigation was necessary for the incident.
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2024 Miami Grand Prix
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