Lando Norris will start the Miami sprint race in pole position after defeating championship leader Kimi Antonelli in an upgraded McLaren race car.
The defending champion topped what turned into a single-lap SQ3 shootout at the Miami International Autodrome, beating the early 2026 dominator Mercedes.
The session at the Miami Autodrome was the first competitive outing following a tweak in the rules to help drivers push flat out instead of excessive energy management, although the stop-start circuit around the Hard Rock Stadium was not the most representative venue to evaluate the success of the FIA’s intervention.
It was also the first qualifying session following an enforced five-week ‘spring break’, which most teams put to use to introduce upgrades. While 2026 leader Mercedes did not bring any updates for now, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull all rolled out significant upgrades to their respective race cars.
In SQ1 McLaren’s Norris topped the times, just 0.010 seconds quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton behind. The Mercedes duo of Antonelli and George Russell were fifth and sixth, a first indication that the Silver Arrows might have to pay a short-term price for being out of sync with its upgrade plan.
There was disappointment for Liam Lawson, as he struggled for brake temperature after a compromised warm-up, with the Racing Bulls driver eliminated ahead of Esteban Ocon.
Cadillac duo Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas were out in P19 and P20 respectively, the slowest of the twenty cars to set a competitive lap time. And that’s because Aston Martin’s nightmare with Honda continued, with neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll able to set a proper fast lap.
Williams drivers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon had just aboutm making it through SQ1 but then tumbled at the next stage. As Leclerc led from Piastri with one minute, 28.333 seconds lap, Audi drivers Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg were also eliminated in SQ2, with Bortoleto missing the cut by just 0.021 seconds to Pierre Gasly. Arvid Lindblad also followed Lawson out the door in P15.
In the top ten shootout of SQ3, drivers waited until the end of the session for a single-lap run, with Norris confirming McLaren’s progress to take a sprint pole. At the venue of his maiden Grand Prix win in 2024, the reigning world champion established a lap in one minute, 27.869 seconds as the cars moved to soft tyres.
Championship leader Antonelli was just over one tenth off in second, narrowly bumped the second Papaya of Piastri off the front row. Leclerc was fourth, with Max Verstappen also showing some progress in the Red Bull in P5.
Russell was only sixth, ahead of Hamilton and an impressive Franco Colapinto, with Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly rounding out the top ten.
So congratulations to Lando Norris in getting pole position for the sprint race in Miami. Very encouraging to see McLaren making a positive step in terms of performance with the defending champion in P1 with Oscar Piastri in P3. It will be fascinating what will happen in the sprint race considering the new, tweaked regulations.
Miami Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.869
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:28.091
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.108
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.239
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:28.461
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.493
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:28.618
8 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:29.320
9 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:29.422
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:29.474
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:29.994
12 Nico Huldenberg Audi 1:30.019
13 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:30.116
14 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:30.216
15 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:30.224
16 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:30.573
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:31.043
18 Esteben Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:31.245
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:31.255
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:31.826
21 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:41.311
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda No time