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

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	Tyres	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