Max Verstappen converted pole position into another Sprint win at Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix to extend his advantage at the top of the championship once more.
The Dutchman survived a challenge from Charles Leclerc at the start to take his fourth straight Sprint triumph, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez completing the top three.
There was drama before the cars even headed out on their reconnaissance laps as Esteban Ocon picked up a 10-second time drop for colliding with Leclerc’s Ferrari.
The entire 20-car field opted for the middle-range Medium compound except for RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Logan Sargeant’s Williams, who both gambled on the Softs.
Leclerc utilised staring on fresh Softs to pull alongside Verstappen at the start, but the Red Bull driver squeezed the Ferrari car towards the barrier and retained first.
Behind the front-row starting pair, Daniel Ricciardo displaced Sergio Perez for third place, but there was chaos further back as Lando Norris was eliminated at Turn 1.
The Aston Martins touched at Turn 1, with Norris becoming collateral damage as he endeavoured to venture round the outside, putting the McLaren out on the spot.
Lance Stroll would sustain race-ending damage also, while Fernando Alonso, who had blamed Lewis Hamilton’s dive up the inside for the contact, incurred a puncture.
The stricken McLaren at the opening corner prompted the Safety Car to intervene proceedings, with Verstappen leading ahead of Leclerc, Ricciardo, Perez and Sainz.
The racing would resume at the end of the third lap and Verstappen sauntered into the distance to open up a one-second lead over Leclerc inside the first two sectors.
Ricciardo’s position in the top three was under threat and Perez regained the place he lost at the start on Lap 5 with a move into Turn 11 at the end of the backstraight.
Hamilton capitalised on the events at the start to make up three places to ninth, but he bemoaned a lack of straight-line speed as he was stuck behind the Haas drivers.
Kevin Magnussen had cut Turn 12 and remained in front of Hamilton when he had lined up a move, prompting the stewards to hand the Dane a 10-second time penalty.
Hamilton had appeared to gain the momentum around the outside into Turn 11 on Lap 14 but Magnussen released the brakes and forced both drivers to miss the turn.
Tsunoda, who had been 15th on the grid, welcomed the invitation and moved past Hamilton for eighth, with both then demoting the penalised Magnussen down to 10th.
Magnussen was the recipient of a second 10-second drop to be added to his overall race time for the second incident with Hamilton, dropping him to 17th in the order.
Verstappen had resisted Leclerc to cross the line with a comfortable margin intact, with the Ferrari also managing to remain outside Perez’s DRS to claim second place.
Ricciardo was able to frustrate Sainz throughout the race to take a season-best fourth and pick up his first points in 2024, with the Spaniard having to settle for fifth.
Piastri claimed sixth position in the sole remaining McLaren in the truncated race, as Nico Hulkenberg delivered another two points for Haas with seventh on the road.
Hamilton had pipped Tsunoda for eighth at the death, but the seven-time champion received the equivalent of a drive through penalti for speeding, relegating him to 16th.
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