George Russell confessed that he was taken aback when Mercedes' flawless run of pole positions at the start of the 2026 Formula One season was snapped by Lando Norris, who topped the Sprint Qualifying session for McLaren at the Miami Grand Prix. The German team had ridden a wave of dominance through the opening three rounds, securing pole and victory at each event, but a five‑week lull since the Japanese Grand Prix gave rival outfits the opportunity to introduce substantial upgrades.
Those improvements appeared to make a decisive difference on the first day of action on the sun‑baked streets of Miami. Norris clinched pole, edging out Russell's teammate and current championship leader Kimi Antonelli, while the Briton could only manage sixth place.
He also finished behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Red Bull's Max Verstappen. The three leading challengers—McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull—each arrived in Florida with comprehensive upgrade packages that reshaped the competitive balance.
In contrast, Mercedes introduced only a handful of new components, opting to hold back a larger, more ambitious package for the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix in May. "It was pretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari made. That's pretty damn impressive," Russell said after the session.
"We knew they had probably closed the gap but all day they were quicker than us. From my side, I've been struggling. Miami is not a track I love, especially in those hotter conditions but it's only Sprint Qualifying, so let's see what tomorrow brings." Antonelli, who currently leads the drivers' championship after back‑to‑back victories in China and Japan, appeared to have the edge over his teammate for much of the day. He cemented that advantage with a strong final lap that split the two McLarens, securing second place on the grid.
"It was a pretty messy session. I struggled a lot with the car. On the medium I couldn't get a good lap in, then on the soft, all of a sudden, the car came alive," Antonelli explained.
"I think there was a bit left on the table. Despite everything, it was a decent result and with the team we did a great job to recover. Definitely we will dig deep tonight to see what we can do better in order to be faster." Norris, who has been consistently quick throughout Friday, now sees a genuine chance to chip away at the 47‑point deficit he faces against Antonelli.
The reigning world champion expressed confidence in his McLaren, yet admitted surprise at the narrow two‑tenths margin that separated him from the rest of the field. "I feel very good.
I'm very happy for the team. 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," he said. "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." Piastri reinforced the McLaren resurgence by taking third place, a result that echoes the team's dominant form during much of the previous season. While McLaren's upgrades have clearly propelled them to the front, Ferrari's extensive development—eleven new parts were listed with the FIA, including a revised floor and revised suspension geometry—has not yielded the same immediate payoff. The Scuderia's best effort came from Charles Leclerc, who was fastest in practice and in the second part of Sprint Qualifying, but he could not translate that pace onto the soft tyres when it mattered most.
Leclerc remained optimistic about race performance, noting that the upgrades are solid but that everyone else also brought significant improvements. "We kind of expected that situation where Mercedes is the car to beat but McLaren have done a big step forward," he said.
"On our side, today, we particularly struggled with tyres. The medium worked very well but on the softs it wasn't a nice feeling, so we have to look at it." Lewis Hamilton, seven‑time champion, found himself eight tenths off the pole time, finishing seventh and expressing clear disappointment. "We didn't really know what to expect.
I hoped we would be better but the car didn't feel particularly great," the Briton admitted. "I thought we would be stronger than we were today. We have to do some work overnight to try to figure out why we are not that quick. I was hopeful coming here, positive, that we would be much higher but...
not meant to be." Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who has been vocal about his frustration with the new 2026 regulations and even hinted at contemplating his future beyond the season, showed a markedly improved performance in Miami. He finished fifth, ahead of both Russell and Hamilton, marking a significant step up from his best qualifying position of eighth in the first three rounds. Verstappen noted the car felt more cohesive, although he acknowledged ongoing weaknesses in the high‑speed first sector. "It feels more together.
Of course, there are still things we are working on, but it's been a more positive step for us. The last few races we were over one second behind. I would say we have almost halved that.
We are still very weak in the first sector, which is mainly high‑speed corners so we know we need to work on that, but the rest seemed more together. It seems we have cleared the midfield.
It feels a bit more normal and together. Still not where I want it to be, but it allows me to trust it a bit more and I can take a bit more lap time out of it," he explained. The weekend schedule is packed: on Saturday, May 2, the F2 Sprint kicks off at 2.55 pm, followed by a series of Miami GP Sprint build‑up shows, the Sprint itself at 5 pm, and a series of analysis programmes throughout the evening. Sunday, May 3, features the F2 Feature Race at 5.25 pm, the Grand Prix build‑up show, the main race at 9 pm, and post‑race reaction programmes.
All events are available on Sky Sports Main Event and can be streamed live via NOW without a contract, offering fans a flexible way to follow the action. In summary, the Miami Sprint Qualifying session underscored how quickly the competitive order can shift when teams bring fresh upgrades to a new venue. McLaren's rapid ascent, driven by a well‑executed upgrade package, has placed them at the front of the grid, while Mercedes appears to be in a holding pattern, awaiting a larger development package for Canada.
Ferrari's extensive list of new parts has yet to translate into the expected performance gains, and both Hamilton and Russell will be looking to extract more from their cars before the next race. Meanwhile, Verstappen's improved showing hints that Red Bull may be finding its stride under the new regulations, setting the stage for a potentially tighter championship battle as the season progresses.