George Russell confessed that he was genuinely 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 at the Miami Grand Prix for McLaren. The German team had enjoyed an almost unassailable start, securing pole and victory in each of the first three rounds, but a five‑week lull after the Japanese Grand Prix gave rival outfits the opportunity to introduce new parts that appeared to make a decisive difference on the sunny Florida circuit. When the session wrapped, Norris stood on the top step of the podium, his McLaren clocking a lap that left the Mercedes pair trailing. Behind him, Russell's teammate and current championship leader Kimi Antonelli claimed second place, while the British driver himself could only manage sixth, sandwiched between McLaren's Oscar Piastri, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The result highlighted a shifting balance of power as McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull all arrived in Miami with extensive upgrade packages, whereas Mercedes introduced only a handful of new components while they bide their time for a more comprehensive overhaul slated for the Canadian Grand Prix in May. "It's pretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari made.
That's pretty damn impressive," Russell said in the post‑session interview. "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' standings after back‑to‑back victories in China and Japan, appeared to have the edge over his teammate throughout the day.
He capped his performance with a clean lap at the end of Sprint Qualifying that split the two McLarens and cemented his second‑place finish. "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's programme, now sees a genuine chance to chip away at Antonelli's 47‑point lead.
The reigning world champion expressed confidence in his machinery but admitted the two‑tenths gap to the rest of the field was larger than he had expected. "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's third‑place finish reinforced the notion that McLaren have recaptured the form that made them a dominant force last season. Their upgrade package, which included a new aerodynamic floor, revised rear‑wing elements and a refined suspension geometry, seems to have unlocked additional downforce and better tyre management, especially on the soft compound that proved crucial in Sprint Qualifying. Ferrari, despite unveiling the largest list of new parts of any team – eleven items approved by the FIA, ranging from a re‑shaped floor to updated suspension components – did not reap the same immediate rewards.
Charles Leclerc, who had been quickest in practice and the second part of Sprint Qualifying, found his medium‑tyre pace unable to translate onto the softs when it mattered most. "The upgrades are fine.
It's just that everyone brought upgrades. We kind of expected that situation where Mercedes is the car to beat but McLaren have done a big step forward," Leclerc remarked. "I felt like they didn't really optimise their first races, so were always there but didn't put everything together.
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, now seventh on the grid, was nearly eight‑tenths off Norris' pole time and expressed 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 seven‑time champion said.
"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 had struggled to break into the top eight in the first three rounds, managed a respectable fifth place in Sprint Qualifying, edging out both Russell and Hamilton. After a quiet start to the season, Verstappen noted a marked improvement: "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." The broader picture emerging from Miami suggests that the early‑season hierarchy is far from set. McLaren's rapid ascent, powered by a well‑targeted aerodynamic overhaul and a refined power‑unit map, has thrust them back into the front‑row contention.
Ferrari's extensive parts list indicates a long‑term development plan, but the team will need to translate those upgrades into tangible on‑track speed, particularly on the softer tyre compounds that dominate sprint events. Mercedes, meanwhile, appears to be in a holding pattern, waiting for a more substantial package that they plan to debut at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Their limited upgrades this weekend – primarily minor suspension tweaks and a revised rear‑wing end‑plate – were insufficient to counter the aggressive development programmes of their rivals. Looking ahead, the weekend schedule promises a full sprint race on Saturday followed by the main Grand Prix on Sunday, with additional support events such as the F2 Sprint and Feature races. Fans can follow live coverage on Sky Sports F1 and stream via the NOW platform.
As the 2026 season progresses, the Miami sprint has already provided a vivid illustration of how quickly fortunes can change in Formula One when teams bring fresh ideas to the track. The battle for the championship is now undeniably open, and the next few races will be crucial in determining whether Mercedes can reclaim its pole‑position dominance or if McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull will continue to erode the gap.