Lando Norris learns stewards' verdict after Miami GP sprint pole threat

Lando Norris has avoided a penalty for the Miami Grand Prix Sprint race after being summoned to the stewards on Friday evening.

Norris claimed the Sprint pole position, beating championship leader Kimi Antonelli to the top spot by two-tenths of a second.

However, his achievement was soon clouded in doubt as the stewards flagged Norris for “driving unnecessarily slowly” at Turn 17, potentially blocking Nico Hulkenberg's Audi. 

Having heard from the driver, the stewards were satisfied that Norris did not need to be handed a penalty.

In their verdict, they said: "Car 1 (Norris) failed to stay below the required time limit as stipulated by the Race Director’s Competition Notes.

"Car 1 was within the approved delta time for almost the whole lap until just before Turn 17, where he was suddenly passed by Car 27. 

"That then forced Car 1 to react to create a necessary and appropriate gap to set up a push lap.

"The Stewards considered this an extenuating circumstance and determined that he did not drive unnecessarily slowly."

The ruling means that Norris's first pole of the season stands and he will line-up P1 ahead of Antonelli and team-mate Oscar Piastri in third.