World champion Lando Norris broke the Mercedes monopoly on pole positions in the 2026 season by delivering the fastest lap in Sprint Qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix. His upgraded McLaren MCL40 surged to the front of the grid, giving the British driver his first pole of the year and the first non‑Mercedes pole since the season began.
The Miami weekend marked the first race action after a five‑week hiatus, and the usual hierarchy that had seen Mercedes‑powered cars dominate the opening three rounds in March was dramatically reshuffled. All of the leading teams introduced a raft of upgrades, but McLaren’s package proved the most effective, allowing Norris to post a benchmark time of 1:27.869 around the Miami International Autodrome. Norris, who had yet to finish higher than fourth in either a Sprint or a Grand Prix during his title‑defence, capitalised on the final session of Sprint Qualifying to claim the top spot.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, driving for Mercedes, was two‑tenths slower and took second place. George Russell, Antonelli’s teammate, struggled throughout the session and could only manage sixth on the grid. Mercedes introduced a relatively modest set of upgrades for the Miami event, especially when compared with the extensive work carried out by McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull. The German team plans to unveil a larger upgrade package at the next race in Canada later in the month, hoping to regain the pace advantage they displayed at Suzuka.
The stark contrast in performance between the two races was evident, and it sparked surprise among the Mercedes camp. "Pretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari made. That's pretty damn impressive," Russell admitted after the session.
"We knew they had probably closed the gap but all day they were quicker than us." Oscar Piastri completed the McLaren one‑two, finishing third and reinforcing the team’s resurgence. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who had topped the sole practice session and led SQ2, settled for fourth after a strong showing in the SF‑26, a car equipped with eleven distinct upgrades for the weekend. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed fifth place, demonstrating that the team’s recent upgrades were beginning to pay off.
His teammate, Isack Hadjar, was considerably slower, ending up ninth behind the Alpine pair of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly. Lewis Hamilton, now driving for Ferrari, recorded a seventh‑place time, roughly three‑tenths of a second off Leclerc’s best lap. Aston Martin was the only constructor that did not bring any aerodynamic updates to Miami. Although Honda introduced changes aimed at eliminating the vibration issues that have plagued their power unit, the team remained near the back of the field.
Lance Stroll failed to set a time after an early spin sent him into the run‑off area, while Fernando Alonso’s 21st‑fastest lap was an unrepresentative ten seconds slower than the cars that qualified directly ahead of him. The final qualifying order was: 1. Lando Norris (McLaren) 2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 3.
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 5. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 6.
George Russell (Mercedes) 7. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 8. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 9.
Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) 10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) McLaren, the reigning two‑time constructors' champions, had hinted at a return to form after Suzuka, where Piastri had finished second to Antonelli.
The dramatic improvement shown by the heavily upgraded MCL40 in Miami suggests the team has truly re‑established itself at the front of the pack. Norris, the reigning drivers' champion, epitomised this resurgence. The Briton topped SQ1 and, despite a mistake in SQ2 that dropped him to seventh for that stage, recovered spectacularly in the final phase. He was the only driver to break the 88‑second barrier on his single flying lap, posting a time that left the rest of the field trailing.
"I feel very good. I'm very happy for the team," Norris said after securing pole. "It's always a lot of expectations.
A lot of work has gone into trying to bring these upgrades and it's always just difficult to anticipate or to know what to expect coming into a new weekend. But since lap one, literally, turn one, everything felt better. It felt a little bit more like last year with just having some confidence in the car.
And I felt like I exploited that through the whole day today. So, a nice start to the weekend. Probably better than we were expecting, honestly. We were expecting better of course but we didn't know in terms of quantity how it was going to be.
So, a little surprise, but a pleasant one for sure." The weekend schedule featured a packed programme: on Saturday, the F2 Sprint at 2.55 pm, followed by the Miami GP Sprint build‑up at 4 pm, the Sprint itself at 5 pm, and a series of analysis shows in the evening. Sunday’s agenda included the F2 Feature Race at 5.25 pm, the Grand Prix build‑up at 7 pm, the race itself at 9 pm, and post‑race reaction and analysis throughout the night. Overall, the Miami Sprint highlighted how rapidly the competitive order can shift when teams introduce substantial upgrades.
McLaren’s aggressive development path paid immediate dividends, allowing Norris to claim a pole that broke Mercedes’ early‑season dominance. As the season progresses toward Canada and beyond, the battle for supremacy among the top teams promises to intensify, with each constructor seeking to out‑develop the others in the relentless pursuit of speed and points.