Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
George Russell has made an honest admission about Mercedes’ closest rivals after finishing fourth in the Miami Grand Prix Sprint.
On Saturday, the Miami Grand Prix Sprint took place around the Hard Rock Stadium, with McLaren’s Lando Norris starting on pole ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri.
Although Antonelli revealed he had practised his race starts during the April break, the Italian again struggled to launch off the line and was overtaken by the likes of Piastri and Charles Leclerc.
Norris ended up leading from start to finish as he took the chequered flag ahead of teammate Piastri and Ferrari’s Leclerc.
Meanwhile, Russell had another frustrating afternoon as he struggled to overtake his teammate and world championship rival Antonelli.
In the end, due to Antonelli’s five-second penalty for track limit breaches, Russell finished fourth.
Lando Norris takes maximum points – but who was your driver of the Miami Sprint? 🧐
Let us know in the comments below!
George Russell admits Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull upgrades are ‘daunting’
Speaking after the session, Russell admitted that the upgrades brought to Miami by the likes of McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull are ‘daunting’.
As reported by Sky Sports, Russell said: “(I’m) not much happier (with the car), to be honest. As I said yesterday, I struggle on this track. It’s very low grip.
“There are a couple of tracks on the calendar that are a bit like this – Brazil, Zandvoort, I don’t know what it is, I just sort of struggle when the cars are four-wheel sliding.
“But P4, two places forward, but obviously the improvements from McLaren, Ferrari and also Red Bull are a little bit daunting. That’s the main thing.”
Although he is far from happy, Russell did close the gap to Antonelli in the standings to just seven points ahead of Sunday’s main race.
McLaren have set the pace in Miami as their upgrades pay off 🔥Is this the start of a real momentum shift?
Read the full Miami Sprint report here 👇
READ MORE: Lando Norris wins the Miami Sprint as Mercedes struggle for pace against McLaren and Ferrari
Toto Wolff admits Mercedes are ‘out of sync’ with upgrades
After failing to win a session for the first time in the 2026 season, Toto Wolff admitted that Mercedes are ‘out of sync’ with their upgrades but stated that they will be available for the Canadian Grand Prix.
He said to Sky Sports: “We knew we were out of sync with our upgrades, which are coming for Montreal.
“We were hoping we would be able to hold on in terms of pure lap time but if you have such a bad getaway, which was not at all Kimi’s fault, it was a glitch on our side, it’s difficult.”
Receive exclusive F1 news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
