Race report

Formula 1 Miami GP

F1 Miami GP: Lando Norris wins sprint in McLaren 1-2

Norris took McLaren's first win in the 2026 F1 campaign aboard a heavily upgraded MCL40

Edited: May 2, 2026, 5:56 PM

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Lando Norris, McLaren

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images

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Lando Norris claimed McLaren’s first victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season by winning the Miami Grand Prix sprint race in a 1-2 for the defending constructors’ champions.

The reigning drivers’ world champion finished 3.7s clear of team-mate Oscar Piastri, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completing the podium after the 19-lap contest around Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

This was the first non-Mercedes victory of the 2026 campaign after the Silver Arrows won the opening three grands prix, plus the Shanghai sprint, but failed to bring many updates to Miami.

That is in contrast to several upgrades that McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull all brought, which was represented in sprint qualifying as Norris pipped Kimi Antonelli to pole with Piastri completing the top three.

Leclerc and Max Verstappen respectively rounded out the top five, while George Russell only mustered sixth, qualifying six tenths off polesitter Norris.

The reigning world champion enjoyed a solid getaway but it was another poor start for Antonelli, who dropped behind Piastri and Leclerc into fourth with Russell and Lewis Hamilton jumping Verstappen.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Brett Farmer / LAT Images via Getty Images

Antonelli did fight back though, trying to force his way past Leclerc into Turns eight and 11 yet the Ferrari driver held firm and took a dim view: “Kimi is so bad at wheel-to-wheel, I feel like we’re going to crash.”

In typical 2026 style that battle would have kept going in ‘yo-yo’ fashion, but changes were made for Miami with the super clipping limit increased to 350kW to decrease the reliance on energy management.

So, instead of keeping with Leclerc, Antonelli actually fell back and was overtaken by team-mate Russell on lap eight at Turn 17, though the Italian regained fourth the following tour.

That was at Turn 11, just seconds before Verstappen overtook Hamilton over the white lines at corner exit.

The Red Bull driver therefore handed sixth back to the seven-time world champion, before finally completing a ‘legal’ move on Hamilton at Turn 17 during lap 10.

By this point, these were the only wheel-to-wheel battles happening, as the top three had streaked clear with a comfortable Norris 2.7s ahead of Piastri who led Leclerc by 1.3s.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images

The Ferrari driver subsequently tried to close on Piastri but it was too little, too late, particularly when he went deep at Turn 11 on the penultimate lap. This meant that, in typical sprint race style, drivers largely maintained position across the final tours.

Norris therefore completed a controlled win from pole ahead of Piastri and Leclerc, while Antonelli crossed the line in fourth and 2.5s behind the Monegasque.

The 19-year-old, however, was handed a post-race five-second penalty for track limit infringements, dropping him to sixth behind fourth-placed Russell and Verstappen in fifth.

Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly respectively completed the points positions, the Frenchman continuing a strong start to 2026 for Alpine.

As a result of the penalty, Antonelli’s championship lead over Russell has dropped to seven points, while Leclerc remains third ahead of Hamilton and fifth-placed Norris.

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F1 Miami GP - Sprint race results

SPRINT

All Stats

Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Chassis Engine 1 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 1 McLaren MCL40 19

29'15.045

210.599 8 McLaren Mercedes 2 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 McLaren MCL40 19

+3.766

29'18.811

3.766 210.148 7 McLaren Mercedes 3 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 Ferrari SF-26 19

+6.251

29'21.296

2.485 209.852 6 Ferrari Ferrari 4 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 Mercedes MGP W17 19

+12.951

29'27.996

6.700 209.057 5 Mercedes Mercedes 5 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3 Red Bull Racing RB22 19

+13.639

29'28.684

0.688 208.975 4 Red Bull Red Bull 6

A. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes

12 Mercedes MGP W17 19

+13.777

29'28.822

0.138 208.959 3 Mercedes Mercedes 7 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Ferrari 44 Ferrari SF-26 19

+21.665

29'36.710

7.888 208.031 2 Ferrari Ferrari 8 France P. Gasly Alpine 10 Alpine A526 19

+30.525

29'45.570

8.860 206.999 1 Alpine Mercedes 9 France I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing 6 Red Bull Racing RB22 19

+35.346

29'50.391

4.821 206.442 Red Bull Red Bull 10 Argentina F. Colapinto Alpine 43 Alpine A526 19

+36.970

29'52.015

1.624 206.254 Alpine Mercedes 11 Brazil G. Bortoleto Audi 5 Audi R26 19

+48.438

30'03.483

11.468 204.943 Audi Audi 12 France E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31 Haas VF-26 19

+56.972

30'12.017

8.534 203.978 Haas Ferrari 13 United Kingdom O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87 Haas VF-26 19

+57.365

30'12.410

0.393 203.933 Haas Ferrari 14 Spain C. Sainz Williams 55 Williams FW48 19

+58.504

30'13.549

1.139 203.805 Williams Mercedes 15 New Zealand L. Lawson Racing Bulls 30 Racing Bulls VCARB03 19

+59.358

30'14.403

0.854 203.709 RB Red Bull 16 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 Aston Martin AMR26 19

+1'16.067

30'31.112

16.709 201.851 Aston Martin Honda 17 Mexico S. Perez Cadillac F1 team 11 Cadillac 19

+1'16.691

30'31.736

0.624 201.782 Cadillac Ferrari 18 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 Aston Martin AMR26 19

+1'17.626

30'32.671

0.935 201.679 Aston Martin Honda 19 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 Williams FW48 19

+1'28.173

30'43.218

10.547 200.525 1 Williams Mercedes 20 Finland V. Bottas Cadillac F1 team 77 Cadillac 19

+1'29.597

30'44.642

1.424 200.370 Cadillac Ferrari dns Germany N. Hulkenberg Audi 27 Audi R26 0

Audi Audi dns United Kingdom A. Lindblad Racing Bulls 41 Racing Bulls VCARB03 0

RB Red Bull View full results

Photos from Miami GP - Saturday

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Aston Martin F1 Team Garage

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Tribute to Alex Zanardi

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Sergio Perez, Cadillac Racing

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Lando Norris, McLaren

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Lando Norris, McLaren

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Lando Norris, McLaren

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Lando Norris, McLaren

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing, Flavio Briatore, Alpine

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Tribute to the late Alex Zanardi

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Franco Colapinto, Alpine

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Lando Norris, McLaren

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, George Russell, Mercedes

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Nico Hülkenberg, Audi F1 Team

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Lando Norris, McLaren

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Nico Hülkenberg, Audi F1 Team

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Lando Norris, McLaren

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Miami GP - Saturday, in photos

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Previous article Martin Brundle, Toto Wolff and Stefano Domenicali lead emotional Alex Zanardi tributes

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