Lando Norris dominated qualifying for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix Sprint to secure pole position, narrowly beating championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 0.222 seconds.
The reigning world champion lap time of 1:27.869 confirmed McLaren upgrades were on spot, breaking Mercedes’ stranglehold on qualifying dominance that had defined the early part of the season.
The session kicked off right on schedule at 8:30 PM local time, following a solitary Practice 1 session earlier in the day that had hinted at closer competition thanks to the slew of upgrades brought by teams hungry to challenge Mercedes’ early-season supremacy.
All drivers opted for medium tires at the outset of SQ1, a conservative choice to build tire temperature on the warm but humid Florida evening, as they gingerly ventured out to post their initial banking laps.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was among the first to set a representative time, clocking a solid 1:28.723 benchmark that put him at the top of the provisional timesheets.
Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell quickly responded, with the young Italian slotting into second with a sharp 1:29.312, followed by his teammate, 0.347 adrift.
Later, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc lit up the timing screens with a sub 1:28s, to snatch P2, followed by Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton, as the Silver Arrows settled in fifth and sixth at the end of SQ1.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll suffered the first major blow when he locked up heavily approaching the hairpin, his AMR26 beaching momentarily before a red flag halted proceedings with just four minutes remaining.
Full 2026 F1 Miami Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying Results
Full 2026 F1 Miami Grand Prix schedule: Start times, where to watch
The Canadian recovered and headed back to the pits but opted not to rejoin, sealing his fate at the bottom of the order with no time set. Teammate Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, pushed to recover a deleted lap for exceeding track limits at Turn 6, but could only manage second last.
Cadillac’s Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas tumbled into the drop zone next, while Haas’ Esteban Ocon and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson filled out the bottom six eliminants.
With less than ten minutes to run SQ2, all drivers were out quickly on Pirelli’s red-banded C4 softs to get in banker laps and the Ferraris jumped to the top of the timesheets with Leclerc’s 1:28.333 leading Hamilton by 0.508 seconds.
However, Piastri split the duo with a last minute 1:28.506 as Russell, Verstappen, Antonelli and Norris completed the top seven.
Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg headed the list of eliminations, followed by Haas’ Ollie Bearman, Williams’ Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad.
SQ3 saw the mandatory switch to soft tyres, threatening to change the competitive order seen in previous sessions.
With less than five minutes to go, the top ten cars finally took to the track for a single-lap shootout for F1 Miami GP Sprint pole and Lando Norris delivered a 1m27.869s to secure the top starting spot for Saturday’s race.
Kimi Antonelli was just over one tenth off in second, narrowly beating Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren. Charles Leclerc was fourth, with Max Verstappen also showing some progress in the Red Bull in fifth.
George Russell was only sixth, followed by Lewis Hamilton and an impressive Franco Colapinto, with Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly wrapping up the top ten.
READ MORE:
Charles Leclerc tops sole Miami GP practice for Ferrari as Mercedes hits engine issues
F1 penalty points 2026: Which driver risks a race ban heading to Miami GP?
