Kimi Antonelli beats Max Verstappen to Miami Grand Prix pole as George Russell fails to perform

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Kimi Antonelli has claimed his third consecutive pole position, putting his Mercedes on top for the Miami Grand Prix.

Earlier in the day, Sprint polesitter Lando Norris converted his front-row start into the first non-Mercedes victory of the season, while second-placed Andrea Kimi Antonelli was swamped by other cars off the line.

Both McLaren and Ferrari appear to have made a significant step forward over the five-week break, with both teams introducing a raft of upgrades that appeared to have moved them ahead of Mercedes.

In Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, Norris dominated proceedings, setting the pace in SQ3 and finishing a couple of tenths clear of Antonelli. Such a commanding performance from the reigning world champion suggests McLaren are the team to beat this weekend.

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 👇

Lando Norris wins the Miami Sprint as Mercedes struggle for pace against McLaren and Ferrari

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Breezy conditions played a role in the early stages of Q1, with a strong tailwind into Turns 1 and 11 catching several drivers out and compromising grip. Alex Albon was the first to have a lap time deleted at Turn 11, while his Williams teammate Carlos Sainz soon followed with a lock-up into Turn 1.

The opening runs saw Max Verstappen set the early pace, ahead of the Mercedes of Antonelli and Norris’ McLaren, with both drivers lapping within a tenth of the Red Bull. Ollie Bearman slotted in behind to split the top three from the Ferraris, while Oscar Piastri and George Russell were left down in P10 and P11 respectively.

After being disqualified from the Sprint race just prior to qualifying, Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi was still clearly hampered by an issue, with engineers scrambling to get the car ready. Following a hectic start to the session, they managed to send the Brazilian out onto the track with just under four minutes remaining.

Although Bortoleto made it out onto the track, he ultimately ran out of time to set a competitive lap and will start the Miami Grand Prix from the back of the grid. As he headed down the back straight, TV footage showed flames coming from the rear brakes of his Audi, forcing him to stop midway along the straight in an incident reminiscent of his teammate Nico Hülkenberg’s Sprint race issue.

Piastri, meanwhile, only just scraped through into Q2, hovering on the edge of the drop zone after struggling to piece together a clean lap on his scrubbed soft tyres.

Fernando Alonso delivers again in qualifying over Lance Stroll at the Miami GP 👀 Do you think the Canadian will end this sour streak soon?

Stroll hasn't out-qualified Alonso since the 2024 British Grand Prix 🤯

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After a difficult weekend for Isack Hadjar, during which he began voicing concerns similar to those raised by Verstappen’s former Red Bull teammates, he was the first driver to head out in Q2. The Frenchman, who joined Red Bull at the start of the 2026 season, looked more at ease and ended up just a hundredth of a second behind the Dutchman.

Norris endured a difficult first flying lap, with his time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 6, leaving him under pressure to get a representative lap on the board with eight minutes remaining in Q2. Early runs saw Antonelli once again set the pace, while Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari split the two Mercedes.

After showing strong progress earlier in the weekend, McLaren’s momentum appeared to stall, with the reigning world champion only managing P9 on his first flying lap, while Piastri fared slightly better in P5.

Norris queried his race engineer, Will Joseph, over a lack of deployment out of Turn 16, although McLaren reported no underlying issues, suggesting the worsening breeze was beginning to have a greater impact.

After Antonelli looked comfortable at the top of the timesheets, Verstappen edged ahead of the Italian to claim the fastest spot, going nearly two tenths quicker.

It has been an impressive showing from Alpine this weekend, with both Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly progressing into the top-10 shootout. Gasly also enjoyed a strong run in the earlier Miami Sprint, securing the final point-scoring position.

Track temperature dropped a couple of degrees for the start of Q3, with McLaren opting to be the first cars out onto the track for the final part of qualifying.

Norris initially edged his teammate to claim provisional pole by half a tenth, before Verstappen snatched the top spot by just two thousandths of a second. Moments later, Leclerc surged to the front, but Ferrari’s celebrations were short-lived as Antonelli responded to go quickest by three tenths.

Full results from Miami Grand Prix qualifying

Despite heading out first for a final attempt at pole, Russell failed to improve, while his Mercedes teammate bailed out of his lap. Even without completing a second flying run, Antonelli held on to pole position, leading Verstappen by a tenth and a half.

Leclerc secured third, while his teammate could only manage sixth for Ferrari. Despite arriving in the session as favourites, McLaren struggled for pace once again, with Norris and Piastri ending up in P4 and P7 respectively.