George Russell confessed 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 claimed the top spot in the Sprint Qualifying session for the Miami Grand Prix. The German team had enjoyed a commanding opening to the year, securing pole and race victories in each of the first three events, but the five‑week lull after the Japanese Grand Prix gave rival outfits the chance to introduce new aerodynamic and mechanical upgrades that appeared to pay off handsomely on the sunny streets of Florida. Norris topped the charts, followed by Russell's teammate and current championship leader Kimi Antonelli, while the Brit found himself down in sixth place. Behind him were McLaren's Oscar Piastri, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The spread of results reflected a weekend in which McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull all arrived with substantial development packages, whereas Mercedes introduced only a handful of new components, opting to wait for a larger 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 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 leads the drivers' standings after back‑to‑back wins in China and Japan, appeared to have the edge over his teammate for most of the day. He capped his effort with a clean lap at the end of Sprint Qualifying that split the two McLarens, demonstrating that the young Italian can extract performance even when the car feels unsettled.
"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 the Friday schedule, now sees a genuine chance to chip away at his 47‑point deficit to Antonelli. The reigning world champion expressed confidence in the McLaren, yet admitted surprise at the narrow two‑tenths margin separating 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 update list—eleven new parts including a revised floor and suspension—has not translated into the same level of performance on the track. Lewis Hamilton, who qualified seventh and finished nearly eight‑tenths off the pole, voiced his 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." Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who was fastest in practice and in the second part of Sprint Qualifying, was unable to convert his medium‑tyre pace into a soft‑tyre pole position. He remained optimistic about race pace despite the tyre struggle. "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 noted.
"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." Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who has been vocal about his frustration with the new 2026 regulations and even hinted at considering his future beyond the season, delivered 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. "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 said. "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 with action: on Saturday, May 2, fans can watch the F2 Sprint at 2.55 pm, the Miami GP Sprint build‑up at 4 pm, the Sprint itself at 5 pm, followed by pre‑race analysis and qualifying build‑up throughout the evening. Sunday, May 3, features the F2 Feature Race at 5.25 pm, the Grand Prix build‑up at 7 pm, and the main race at 9 pm, with post‑race reaction and a final notebook later in the night.
All events will be streamed live on Sky Sports F1 and can be accessed via the NOW platform without a long‑term contract. Overall, the Miami Sprint Qualifying session has shaken up the early‑season hierarchy. Mercedes' limited upgrade strategy has left them vulnerable, while McLaren's focused improvements have catapulted them to the front of the grid. Ferrari's extensive parts list has yet to yield the expected performance gains, and Red Bull appears to be finding a rhythm after a rocky start.
As the teams head into the main Grand Prix race tomorrow, the battle for points—and ultimately the championship—looks set to intensify dramatically.