Rand Norris remained celebrating his luck, but Oscar Piastri cursed his luck after the late safety car won the sprint at the Miami Grand Prix.
Piastri led on turn 1 on the opening lap from Kimi Antoneri, and Norris chased his teammates as Antoneri lost three positions with wet. The McLaren pair ran intimately when the truck dries, but Piastri pits first from the lead. Norris has lost time when he comes to the rap when Fernando Alonso brings out his safety car and crashes to allow the UK to keep the lead.
“My luck in Miami seems pretty good at the moment, so I’m happy,” Norris said. “But the pace was still very good. These races are always difficult. I don’t know when I’ll box them. If I box early, Lewis would pay off and he had a good strategy.
“It worked for the second year in a row. I’d probably prefer this if it happened tomorrow than today, but I’ll take it. I’m happy. It’s a good job by the team. It was so much fun.”
Norris only gets eight points for victory as it’s a sprint race, but he says he’s confident he’ll fight for pole position again later on Saturday, given the pace he’s shown so far this weekend.
“It’s a plan, but it’s difficult,” he said. “You know there are a lot of people out there, and I felt better yesterday, to be honest. There are a few mistakes, but I’m ready to go again.”
However, Piastri told Team Radio that he would not buy a lottery ticket in Miami immediately after being hurt by a safety car at the same venue last year.
“I feel like I’ve done almost everything right now,” Piastri said. “It was obviously a bit disappointing to run away second, but that’s how it goes from time to time. Unfortunately, racing is a pretty cruel business.
“I had a bit of pace at the table yesterday during the sprint qualifiers, and I hope we can use it this afternoon, and I hope the weather will settle my mind, and I enjoy it.