2024 Miami Grand Prix

The 2024 Miami Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix 2024) was a Formula One motor race held on May 5, 2024, at the Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Florida. It was the sixth round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship and the second Grand Prix weekend of the season to utilise the sprint format.

Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing won the sprint from pole position. He also took pole position for the main race, but finished second to Lando Norris of McLaren, who took his maiden Grand Prix win on his 110th race start. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari finished third. The race marked McLaren's first victory since Daniel Ricciardo won the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. The three-day race weekend was attended by 275,000 people, which set a new attendance record for the Miami Grand Prix.

Background
The event was held at the Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens for the third time in the circuit's history, across the weekend on May 3–5. The Grand Prix was the sixth round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship, the third running of the Miami Grand Prix, and the first time that it featured the sprint format.

Championship standings before the race
Going into the weekend, Max Verstappen led the Drivers' Championship with 110 points, 25 points ahead of his teammate Sergio Pérez in second, and 34 ahead of Charles Leclerc in third. Red Bull Racing, with 195 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Ferrari and McLaren, who were second and third with 151 and 96 points, respectively.

Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.

Tyre choices
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3, and C4 tyre compounds (the middle three in their range), designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.

Penalties
Daniel Ricciardo of RB carried a three-place grid penalty for the main race for overtaking Nico Hülkenberg of Haas under safety car conditions at the preceding Chinese Grand Prix.

Practice
The only free practice session was held on May 3, 2024, at 12:30 local time (UTC–4), and was topped by Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing ahead of Oscar Piastri of McLaren and Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari. A red flag was called early into the session when the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc spun out in turn 16 and was unable to move. Following the session, Aston Martin was fined €400 after Lance Stroll exceeded the pit lane speed limit by 3.5 km/h over the set limit of 80 km/h.

Sprint qualifying
Sprint qualifying was held on May 3, 2024, at 16:30 local time (UTC–4), and determined the starting grid order for the sprint.

Sprint qualifying report
During the first segment (SQ1), the Sauber of Valtteri Bottas nearly collided with Oscar Piastri of McLaren as he was starting his flying lap. The incident was investigated by the stewards after the sprint qualifying session. Alexander Albon of Williams had his initial track time, that placed him in 16th, deleted for track limits, dropping him down to 20th. In the second segment, Mercedes was investigated for pit lane infringement after team personnel were seen without protective gear as Lewis Hamilton was entering the pit lane. The stewards took no further actions. In SQ3, drivers began running soft tyres with the Haas of Nico Hülkenberg making his first lap in the remaining four minutes of the segment.

In SQ1 and SQ2, Lando Norris of McLaren, whose car received upgrades, set the fastest lap in both sessions. However, Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing, who found difficulties in his tyres, took pole position and was joined by Charles Leclerc of Ferrari in the grid's front row. Verstappen's teammate Sergio Pérez qualified in third with Daniel Ricciardo of RB joining him in fourth, the team’s best result for the season. After performing well in the first two segments, Norris qualified ninth. Bottas was given a three-place grid penalty for the sprint for impeding Piastri, dropping him to 20th from 18th in the starting grid. Albon, who qualified 20th, was required to start from the pit lane due to suspension changes during parc fermé.

Sprint qualifying classification
Notes
 * – Valtteri Bottas received a three-place grid penalty for the sprint for impeding Oscar Piastri in SQ1.
 * – Alexander Albon qualified 20th, but was required to start the sprint from the pit lane as his car was modified during parc fermé conditions.

Sprint
The sprint was held on May 4, 2024, at 12:00 local time (UTC–4), and was run for 19 laps.

Sprint report
Before grid formation in the pit lane, Esteban Ocon collided into the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, forcing a front wing change on the Alpine. Ocon was given a ten-second penalty and one penalty point for unsafe release. At the start of the race, going into turn one, Lando Norris retired from the race after receiving terminal damage from a three-car collision involving Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll. Alonso's Aston Martin contacted into Norris' McLaren, requiring a change of the front wing, while Stroll retired from damage on his car. No further actions was taken by the stewards for Hamilton, Alonso, and Stroll after the incident. Norris was fined €50,000 for returning to the pit lane during a live track, half of which is to be suspended unless a similar incident occurs in future races. Prior to the incident, Daniel Ricciardo moved up to third place after Sergio Pérez locked up into turn 1 while Kevin Magnussen moved from 14th to 8th on the grid. Under the safety car, Ocon served his penalty.

On lap five, Pérez retook third place from Ricciardo using DRS down the straight and into turn 11. Magnussen was given a ten-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during his battle for eighth place with Hamilton. In the following laps, Magnussen would receive an additional two ten-second penalties and a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, with a black and white flag given on the third occasion after multiple warnings, during his defence against the Mercedes. Hamilton managed to finish the race in eighth after overtaking Magnussen and managing to defend from Yuki Tsunoda. Hamilton received a twenty-second time penalty, converted from a drive-through penalty, for speeding in the pit lane during the safety car period, allowing Tsunoda to finish in the points. Max Verstappen, who achieved the fastest lap and led all laps, won the sprint ahead of Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and his Red Bull Racing teammate Pérez. Ricciardo finished in fourth, earning his first points of the season.

Sprint classification
Notes
 * – Lewis Hamilton finished eighth, but received a drive-through penalty converted into a twenty-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
 * – Kevin Magnussen finished tenth, but received three ten-second time penalties and one five-second time penalty. The first three for leaving the track and gaining an advantage and the other for exceeding track limits.

Qualifying
Qualifying was held on May 4, 2024, at 16:00 local time (UTC–4), and determined the starting grid order for the main race.

Qualifying report
Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing took pole position after setting the fastest time in both Q1 and Q3 (the first and third segments respectively). Charles Leclerc of Ferrari joined him in the grid's front row ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. in third. Zhou Guanyu was issued a warning for forming a queue in the pit lane at the start of the first session, which was investigated after the segment. Daniel Ricciardo, who finished fourth in the sprint with RB, was eliminated in 18th position after struggling to find grip in his tyres in his flying lap. Ricciardo was imposed a three-place grid penalty from the previous race, dropping him down to 20th. Double yellow flags were called during the second session after Alexander Albon went wide on turn 17 in his Williams, reporting damage to his tyres soon after. In the third session, a potential impeding incident involving Sainz and Nico Hülkenberg was noted, although it was announced there was to be no further investigation. Verstappen earned his seventh consecutive pole, the first driver to do so since Lewis Hamilton in 2015, and the second driver to take the first six poles in a season since Alain Prost in 1993.

Qualifying classification
Notes
 * – Daniel Ricciardo received a three-place grid penalty for the main race for overtaking Nico Hülkenberg under safety car conditions at the previous round.

Race
The race was held on May 5, 2024, at 16:00 local time (UTC–4), and was run for 57 laps.

Race report
Daniel Ricciardo, who qualified eighteenth, served his three-place grid drop from the previous, dropping him to last. As the race began, Red Bull Racing polesitter Max Verstappen kept the lead into turn one as his teammate Sergio Pérez, who had potentially jumped the start, had a major lock up and had a near-miss moment with not only Verstappen, but Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. While this was occurring, Oscar Piastri of McLaren saw the opportunity to slide from sixth to third. Verstappen would create a large gap to Leclerc as Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly engaged in a wheel-to-wheel battle that Gasly emerged victorious from, while Nico Hülkenberg drove his Haas past Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton to take seventh. Piastri soon overtook Leclerc with DRS, and Hamilton briefly overtook Hülkenberg before he locked up. Hamilton overtook Hülkenberg once again briefly afterward, with the latter soon losing position to George Russell.

Soon, the Williams and Sauber drivers went in for their pit stops; Hülkenberg joined them in the pits. More drivers came into the pit lane soon afterwards, with Pérez the first of the frontrunners to stop. He was joined by Leclerc, with the hard being the favored tire compound. At that point, Verstappen had created a large gap, but he made a mistake over the turn fourteen-fifteen chicane and struck a bollard. The bollard followed his front wing until it was released at turn sixteen, forcing a brief virtual safety car period. Running over the kerbs resulted in damage to Verstappen's floor. It was during this time that Ocon, Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen made their pit stops, with Verstappen making his immediately after the virtual safety car period had ended. After this, Hamilton took the mediums, and Russell the hards. Piastri assumed the lead of the race with Sainz and Lando Norris behind him. Shortly afterward, Piastri and Sainz pitted, which gave the race lead to Norris.

Soon, an incident with Magnussen saw Logan Sargeant hitting the wall and retiring with terminal damage. Magnussen, who received a penalty, had to go to the pit lane for repairs. This incident led to a full safety car period, which benefited Norris as he switched his tyres, giving him a tyre advantage for the restart. Yuki Tsunoda, Zhou Guanyu and Ricciardo also changed their tyres during this period. Verstappen was picked up by the safety car as Norris led the Grand Prix ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc. Ocon was in tenth (maintaining this position until the end), which ultimately earned the first point for Alpine of the season.

The safety car returned to the pit lane on lap 32. During the restart, Norris came under pressure from Verstappen and took a defensive stance. Verstappen lost time to Norris, who opened a gap. In the meantime, Sainz attacked Piastri, causing front wing damage that put the Australian out of the points. However, Sainz received a five-second penalty following the race. Following a front wing replacement, Piastri tried to recover to the points, but suffered from lock ups. He was told by his race engineer to tone down his aggression, as another safety car would endanger Norris' lead. Piastri would set the fastest lap of the race. There were no other major incidents during the closing stages of the race apart from Lance Stroll going off the track to try to overtake Alexander Albon, with Stroll being awarded a ten-second time penalty.

Norris completed the last few laps uneventfully to take victory ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc. His maiden Formula One victory, after 110 race starts, was McLaren's first since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. This was the first victory for a British driver, or a Mercedes-powered team, since the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix, which was won by Russell driving for Mercedes. Having achieved 15 podiums prior to reaching the top step of the podium, the win meant Norris tied the record jointly held by Patrick Depailler, Mika Häkkinen, Eddie Irvine and Jean Alesi for the most podiums scored before taking a maiden Grand Prix win. This was also Norris's first win in any competitive race in any category for over six years since winning the feature race at the 2018 Bahrain Formula 2 round. Norris's race engineer Will Joseph said the victory allowed himself, Norris and the whole McLaren team to finally move on from their "haunting" experience at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, where Norris led most of the race only to lose out following a late heavy rain shower where he decided against changing to wet-weather tyres. Norris added that the victory also gave him satisfaction as it proved his online detractors, who had given him the nickname "Lando NoWins", wrong.

Race classification
Notes
 * – Carlos Sainz Jr. finished fourth on track, but received a post-race five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Oscar Piastri.
 * – Lance Stroll finished 13th, but received a ten-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
 * – Kevin Magnussen finished 18th, but received a ten-second time penalty for causing a collision with Logan Sargeant. He also received a post-race drive-through penalty converted into a twenty-second time penalty for not changing tyres while entering the pit lane during safety car conditions.

Championship standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Constructors' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.