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 broken by Lando Norris, who secured the top spot in the Sprint Qualifying session for McLaren at the Miami Grand Prix. The first three rounds of the championship had been dominated by the Silver Arrows, who not only claimed pole but also converted those front‑row starts into victories at each event. However, the five‑week lull after the Japanese Grand Prix gave rival teams a valuable window to introduce new parts and aerodynamic upgrades. Those developments appeared to pay off immediately on the sun‑baked streets of Miami.
When the grid was finally set, Norris sat on pole, followed by Russell’s teammate and current championship leader, Kimi Antonelli. The British driver, who had been a constant presence at the front of the pack, was relegated to sixth place. He was trailed by McLaren’s other hopeful, Oscar Piastri, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, all of whom had made significant gains over the weekend.
McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull arrived in Florida with comprehensive upgrade packages that touched everything from floor geometry to rear‑wing endplates. Mercedes, by contrast, introduced only a handful of new components, opting to hold back a larger, more ambitious package for the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix in May. This strategic choice left the team looking comparatively under‑developed when the first session of the weekend unfolded.
"It was pretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari made. That's pretty damn impressive," Russell remarked after the session. "We knew they had probably closed the gap but all day they were quicker than us." He added that Miami has never been his favourite circuit, especially under the intense heat that characterises a Florida race weekend.
"From my side, I've been struggling. Miami is not a track I love, particularly in those hotter conditions, but it's only Sprint Qualifying, so let's see what tomorrow brings," he said, hinting that the race proper could still offer redemption. Antonelli, who leads the drivers’ standings after back‑to‑back wins in China and Japan, appeared to have the edge over his teammate throughout the day.
He capped his effort with a strong final lap that placed him ahead of the McLarens, underscoring his growing confidence. "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 gap that separates him from Antonelli in the championship. The reigning world champion, Max Verstappen, expressed confidence in his Red Bull but 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," Verstappen 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." Norris’ performance was reinforced by Piastri, who secured third place, echoing the dominant form McLaren displayed for much of the previous season.
While McLaren’s upgrades have catapulted them to the front, Ferrari’s extensive package—comprising eleven new elements listed by the FIA, including a revised floor and updated suspension geometry—has not yielded the same immediate impact. Lewis Hamilton, a seven‑time champion, found himself eight‑tenths of a second off the pole, finishing seventh and expressing disappointment at the lack of pace. "We didn't really know what to expect. I hoped we would be better but the car didn't feel particularly great," Hamilton 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." Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who had been quickest in practice and the second part of Sprint Qualifying, was unable to translate his medium‑tyre speed onto the soft compound when it mattered most. He remained optimistic about race pace, noting that all teams had introduced upgrades, which effectively erased the presumed Mercedes advantage. "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 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." Red Bull’s Verstappen, who has been vocal about his dissatisfaction with the new 2026 regulations and even hinted at contemplating his future beyond the season, delivered a markedly improved performance in Miami. He finished fifth, outpacing both Russell and Hamilton, and showed that the team’s recent upgrades are beginning to bear fruit.
"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," Verstappen explained. "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 weekend schedule is packed: Saturday features the F2 Sprint at 2.55 pm, followed by a build‑up to the Miami Sprint Qualifying later in the afternoon and evening.
Sunday will host the F2 Feature Race, the Grand Prix build‑up, and the main event itself, with post‑race analysis slated for the late night slots. Fans can follow live coverage on Sky Sports F1 and stream the action via NOW without a long‑term contract. Overall, the Miami Sprint Qualifying has shaken up the early‑season order.
Mercedes’ decision to delay a major upgrade package has given McLaren a clear advantage, while Ferrari’s extensive list of new parts has yet to translate into the expected performance boost. Meanwhile, Red Bull appears to be closing the gap, and the championship battle looks set to intensify as teams head into the next round in Canada, where Mercedes hopes to unveil its long‑awaited upgrades and reclaim its pole‑position dominance.