F1 Miami GP: Lando Norris beats Kimi Antonelli to sprint race pole with upgraded McLaren

Mercedes suffers its first qualifying defeat of 2026 as rivals bring upgrades to Formula 1's Miami Grand Prix

Lando Norris has topped sprint qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix, defeating championship leader Kimi Antonelli in an upgraded McLaren Formula 1 car.

Norris topped what turned into a single-lap SQ3 shoot-out at the Miami International Autodrome, handing early 2026 dominator Mercedes a first defeat.

The session at the Miami Autodrome was the first competitive outing following a mid-season rules refinement to help drivers push flat out instead of being hampered by excessive energy management, although the stop-start circuit around the Hard Rock Stadium was not the most representative venue to evaluate the success of the FIA's intervention.

It was also the first qualifying session following an enforced month-long break, which most teams put to use to introduce vast upgrades. While 2026 leader Mercedes kept its powder dry for now, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull all rolled out significant updates to their respective machines.

In SQ1 McLaren's Norris topped the charts, tantalisingly just 0.010s quicker than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc with Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton behind. Mercedes duo Antonelli and George Russell were fifth and sixth, a first indication Mercedes might have to pay a short-term price for being out of sync with its upgrade plan.

There was disappointment for Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson, he struggled for brake temperature after a compromised warm-up, with the New Zealander eliminated ahead of Haas' Esteban Ocon.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Ryan Pierse / Getty Images

Cadillac duo Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas were out in 19th and 20th respectively, the slowest of the 20 cars to set a competitive lap time. And that's because Aston Martin's woes with Honda continued, with neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll able to set a proper lap.

Williams drivers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon had just about scraped through SQ1 but then stumbled at the next hurdle. As Leclerc led from Piastri with a 1m28.333s lap, Audi drivers Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg were also eliminated in SQ2, with Bortoleto missing the cut by just 0.021s to 10th-placed Pierre Gasly. Arvid Lindblad also followed Lawson out the door in 15th.

In the top 10 shoot-out of SQ3, drivers waited until the end of the session for a single-lap run, with Norris confirming McLaren's progress to take a sprint pole. At the venue of his maiden grand prix win in 2024, the reigning world champion established a 1m27.869s as the field moved to soft tyres.

Championship leader Antonelli was just over one tenth off in second, narrowly bumped the second McLaren of Piastri off the front row. Leclerc was fourth, with Max Verstappen also showing some progress in the Red Bull in fifth.

Russell was only sixth, ahead of Hamilton and an impressive Franco Colapinto, with Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly rounding out the top 10.

The action continues with the 19-lap sprint on Saturday at noon local Miami time, followed by grand prix qualifying at 4pm.

F1 Miami GP - Sprint qualifying results

SPRINT GRID

All Stats

Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Time	km/h
1	L. Norris McLaren	1	McLaren	Mercedes	1'27.869	221.730
2	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.222 1'28.091	221.171
3	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	+0.239 1'28.108	221.128
4	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.370 1'28.239	220.800
5	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3	Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.592 1'28.461	220.246
6	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.624 1'28.493	220.166
7	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.749 1'28.618	219.856
8	F. Colapinto Alpine	43	Alpine	Mercedes	+1.451 1'29.320	218.128
9	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6	Red Bull	Red Bull	+1.553 1'29.422	217.879
10	P. Gasly Alpine	10	Alpine	Mercedes	+1.605 1'29.474	217.752
11	G. Bortoleto Audi	5	Audi	Audi	+2.125 1'29.994	216.494
12	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27	Audi	Audi	+2.150 1'30.019	216.434
13	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	Haas	Ferrari	+2.247 1'30.116	216.201
14	A. Albon Williams	23	Williams	Mercedes	+2.347 1'30.216	215.961
15	C. Sainz Williams	55	Williams	Mercedes	+2.355 1'30.224	215.942
16	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41	RB	Red Bull	+2.704 1'30.573	215.110
17	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	RB	Red Bull	+3.174 1'31.043	213.999
18	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	Haas	Ferrari	+3.376 1'31.245	213.526
19	S. Perez Cadillac F1 team	11	Cadillac	Ferrari	+3.386 1'31.255	213.502
20	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 team	77	Cadillac	Ferrari	+3.957 1'31.826	212.175
21	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	Aston Martin	Honda	+13.442 1'41.311	192.310
22	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	Aston Martin	Honda
View full results