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
Ed Hardy
Edited: May 2, 2026, 5:56 PM
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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
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
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 L. Norris McLaren 1
19
-
8 McLaren Mercedes 2 O. Piastri McLaren 81
19
+3.766
3.766
3.766 7 McLaren Mercedes 3 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16
19
+6.251
6.251
2.485 6 Ferrari Ferrari 4 G. Russell Mercedes 63
19
+12.951
12.951
6.700 5 Mercedes Mercedes 5 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3
19
+13.639
13.639
0.688 4 Red Bull Red Bull 6 A. Antonelli Mercedes 12
19
+13.777
13.777
0.138 3 Mercedes Mercedes 7 L. Hamilton Ferrari 44
19
+21.665
21.665
7.888 2 Ferrari Ferrari 8 P. Gasly Alpine 10
19
+30.525
30.525
8.860 1 Alpine Mercedes 9 I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing 6
19
+35.346
35.346
4.821 Red Bull Red Bull 10 F. Colapinto Alpine 43
19
+36.970
36.970
1.624 Alpine Mercedes 11 G. Bortoleto Audi 5
19
+48.438
48.438
11.468 Audi Audi 12 E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31
19
+56.972
56.972
8.534 Haas Ferrari 13 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87
19
+57.365
57.365
0.393 Haas Ferrari 14 C. Sainz Williams 55
19
+58.504
58.504
1.139 Williams Mercedes 15 L. Lawson Racing Bulls 30
19
+59.358
59.358
0.854 RB Red Bull 16 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14
19
+1'16.067
1'16.067
16.709 Aston Martin Honda 17 S. Perez Cadillac F1 team 11
19
+1'16.691
1'16.691
0.624 Cadillac Ferrari 18 L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18
19
+1'17.626
1'17.626
0.935 Aston Martin Honda 19 A. Albon Williams 23
19
+1'28.173
1'28.173
10.547 1 Williams Mercedes 20 V. Bottas Cadillac F1 team 77
19
+1'29.597
1'29.597
1.424 Cadillac Ferrari 21 N. Hulkenberg Audi 27
0
Audi Audi 22 A. Lindblad Racing Bulls 41
0
RB Red Bull View full results
Photos from Miami GP - Saturday
Miami GP - Saturday, in photos
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Miami GP - Saturday, in photos
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