Key events
Giles Richards’ sprint race report
Here’s Giles’s view on Russell and Antonelli:
They had the race in their hands after both made a good start from the front row and Russell closed out well despite pressure from Norris, but the debrief at Mercedes will likely still be a feisty affair.
Still, the win was the strong start to the weekend Russell was looking for. He won the opening race of the season in Australia and the first sprint of the season at the Chinese Grand Prix, but with Antonelli winning the past three races, the young Italian had taken a strong lead in the world championship. Russell needed to reassert himself and did so in the first real test.
Read his full report:
Right, time to wrap up now until qualifying. Here are the latest standings:
1 Kimi Antonelli (It) Mercedes 106pts
2 George Russell (GB) Mercedes 88
3 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 63
4 Lando Norris (GB) McLaren 58
5 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Ferrari 54
6 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 48
7 Max Verstappen (Neth) Red Bull 28
8 Oliver Bearman (GB) Haas 17
9 Pierre Gasly (Fr) Alpine 16
10 Liam Lawson (NZ) Racing Bulls 10
I’ll be back from 8.30pm BST/3.30pm EDT to see how the Mercedes pair battle each other when not wheel to wheel …
Wolff continues, asked about Norris taking P2 off Mercedes because of the fight: “You can see how quickly it goes. You create a gap with two cars, you start to fight a bit and you can lose a race … If it’s the grand prix, Norris may well win.” At bottom, he is glad this happened in a sprint, with fewer points at stake, and wants to use it to lay down some rules of engagement.
Wolff speaks. “It was great cinema. I really enjoyed these moments … we can say how will we handle these moments in future.”
It comes down to a split second and to whether Russell could have done anything differently. As Brundle says, he couldn’t just disappear.
What will Mercedes be saying behind closed doors? How will Antonelli react? He had calmed down by the presentation, but what will he take into qualifying and how will we react in the race tomorrow?
Brundle says that had it been two teams then there would have been protests, but points out that Russell bounced on the kerb – how could he give more space to give the car’s width.
Bernie Collins asking why the race director did not look at Antonelli-Russell. It was a close call. The question is whether Antonelli was under control sufficiently to take the next corner within track limits.
Interesting to hear Russell push back at the notion that he really needed that. “I was never really concerned, to be honest. It’s just I know Miami is a bit of a bogey track for me and of course there’s been this huge break in the calendar, so lots of people with a lot of things to say. But ultimately I just wanted to get back racing and it feels like the season is going to restart now with, I think, six races in eight weeks.” Will he still feel so happy after qualifying? And what will he make of Radio Antonelli?
Jean Alesi, the 1997 winner here, does the presentations.
George Russell as they hold their prizes. Photograph: Bradley Collyer/PA
Norris says “It was good to watch them go at it for a while” of the Mercedes pair. “Today was a good result for us.”
Russell speaks. “It was a cool race, I was just talking to Lando, it was very difficult to get a gap around here. It felt quite easy to follow, the slipstream was quite powerful with the overtake mode.”
Antonelli says he got pushed off, but concedes he made a mistake after that. “I was quite well alongside, I got pushed off.”
That was a hell of a race, even if we never saw the lead truly change, whatever Antonelli may think. Russell had to grind that out. It was a good performance by Norris, too, though he got lucky that when he locked up Antonelli went straight on and had to give the place back.
Russell started on pole and stayed there but it was far from a stroll. Antonelli put him under pressure but lost his head and a place – and he is still sounding off. “We talk about this internally and not on the radio,” says Wolff.
Russell wins the sprint!
Here comes Russell! Ahead of Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton.
Piastri takes Hamilton! Leclerc does too.
Antonelli passes! But off the track and has to give it back.
Lap 22. Russell hanging in there despite graining problems but Norris locked up.
The big overtake chance is Piastri on Hamilton. 0.2 between them.
Lap 21: Hamilton has touched a wall under pressure from Piastri.
10sec time penalty for Hülkenberg for gaining an advantage by leaving the track.
Russell seems to have pulled out a little. Up to 1sec. Perhaps we will be robbed of a grandstand finish.
Martin Brundle was arguing earlier that you might want to be second going into the final lap, the theory being that you can overtake and not be got back at. But what if there are three cars rather than two in the argument?
Hamilton-Piastri-Leclerc is as tight as Russell-Norris-Antonelli. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, started seventh, has stayed seventh, and is no threat and under no threat.
Sector times are such an oddity now: with variations in the use of the hybrid power across different parts of the circuit, it is very hard to make comparisons.
Russell struggling. Tyres not hot enough and some graining on his mediums. Antonelli putting in fastest laps in third, Norris doing well too. It is now really tight between the top three.
We’re approaching halfway of the 23-lap sprint. 1. Russell, 2. Norris, 3. Antonelli, 4. Hamilton, 5. Piastri, 6. Leclerc, 7. Verstappen, 8. Lindblad, 9. Colapinto, 10. Sainz
Norris less than a second behind Russell. The Antonelli on-board video suggests Russell was not at fault.
Correction! Hadjar back out. It will be valuable to pick up tips for tomorrow.
Hadjar is out, engine problems for the second Red Bull. A big shame for the first driver in a while to show he can at least use the Verstappen-focused Red Bull decently.
