World champion Lando Norris put McLaren’s upgraded car at the front of the grid in the sprint at the Miami Grand Prix on Saturday, becoming the first non-Mercedes driver to take pole position in the 2026 season.
As F1 resumes after a five-week absence from the track, the Mercedes-led hierarchy seen in the opening three races of the season in March has been shaken amid a series of vehicle upgrades among the leading teams.
Norris, who had never finished higher than fourth in a sprint or grand prix during his title defense, set his best lap at the end of sprint qualifying and clinched his first pole position of the year with a benchmark time of 1:27.869 near the Miami International Autodrome.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli took on SQ3 in the leading Mercedes and finished second, two tenths behind pole-scoring McLaren, but teammate George Russell struggled throughout the session and was only able to settle for sixth.
Mercedes introduced fewer upgrades at Miami than McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull, and will see further changes to its title-chasing cars at the next race in Canada later this month, but their respective improvements in pace since the previous race at Suzuka have so far been impressive.
“It’s pretty amazing how big a leap McLaren and Ferrari have made. It’s pretty impressive,” Russell said.
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George Russell admitted he was surprised by the improvements made by McLaren and Ferrari during qualifying for the Miami Sprint.
“We knew they were probably closing the gap, but they were faster than us all day.”
Oscar Piastri finished third, underscoring world champion McLaren’s return to form, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished fourth after leading in the only practice session of the day, leading admirably in SQ2 and suggesting he was the driver to take pole with his SF-26, which featured 11 different upgrades.
Max Verstappen beat Russell to fifth place, while Red Bull also showed improved form following a major upgrade to its car, with Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari in seventh place, trailing Leclerc by about 0.3 seconds throughout the day.
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Lewis Hamilton admitted his Ferrari did not perform as well as he had hoped after qualifying seventh for the Miami Grand Prix sprint.
Red Bull moved away from the midfield position Verstappen had occupied in China and Japan, but teammate Izak Hajar finished ninth, 0.8 seconds slower than the Dutchman, sandwiched between the Alpine duo of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly.
Aston Martin was one of the teams that introduced no aerodynamic updates to their cars, and despite Honda introducing changes aimed at eradicating vibration problems in the power unit, the team remained at the bottom of the standings.
Lance Stroll was unable to record a time after an early spin in the run-off area, while Fernando Alonso’s 21st-fastest time was 10 seconds slower than the Cadillac that had qualified just ahead of him.
Norris starts season, McLaren back in business
If two-time reigning constructors’ champions McLaren knew they were slowly starting to embrace F1’s new-age regulations when Piastri finished second to Antonelli at Suzuka last time out, the immediate performance delivered by the significantly upgraded MCL40 in Miami seems to indicate they are now firmly at the front.
And that description certainly seems to apply to former Miami champion Norris.
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Watch Lando Norris take pole position in the Miami Grand Prix sprint race.
The Briton led in SQ1 and although a mistake on the SQ2 lap meant he was only seventh in the second stage, the world champion recovered well and became the only driver to break the 88-second barrier in the only flying lap of the decisive final phase.
“I feel great. I’m very happy for the team,” said Norris, who won his first Grand Prix in Miami two years ago.
“There are always high expectations. A huge amount of effort is being put into delivering these upgrades, but it’s always difficult to predict or know what will happen on a new weekend.
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Lando Norris admitted his McLaren car “feeled better” as he took pole position for the Miami Grand Prix sprint.
“But from the first lap, literally after Turn 1, everything felt better. I just had some confidence in the car, a little bit more than last year. And today I felt like I was able to take advantage of that throughout the day.”
“So it was a good start to the weekend. To be honest, it was probably better than we expected. Of course we were expecting something better, but we didn’t know what it was going to be in terms of quantity. So it was a bit of a surprise, but it was certainly fun.”
Sky Sports F1 Miami GP Schedule
Saturday, May 2nd
2:55pm: F2 Sprint
4pm: Miami GP sprint build-up
5pm: Miami GP Sprint
6:30pm: Ted’s Sprint Notebook
8pm: Miami GP qualifying build-up*
9pm: Miami GP Qualifying*
11pm: Ted’s Qualification Notes*
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The Miami Grand Prix is a unique experience. Check out some of our favorite moments from the past few years.
Sunday, May 3rd
5:25pm: F2 Feature Race
7pm: Miami GP Build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
9pm: Miami Grand Prix*
11pm: Miami Grand Prix reaction: Checkered flag*
12am: Ted’s Notes*
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
F1 is celebrating a sprint weekend in Miami as the 2026 season resumes. Watch the Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 from 9pm on Sunday. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
