Mercedes engineers wanted to see McLaren’s data to understand why Lando Norris was so fast in Miami

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Mercedes engineers are thought to have wanted to see McLaren’s data at the 2026 F1 Miami Grand Prix to understand how they better optimised their energy deployment.

The Silver Arrows saw their unbeaten start to the 2026 season come to an end in Florida last weekend, as Lando Norris of McLaren won the F1 Sprint at the Miami GP from pole position. Mercedes even failed to make the Sprint podium, with George Russell their lead driver in P4.

Only Mercedes drivers Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Russell had taken a pole position or won a race in Sprint and Grand Prix conditions before Norris’ Miami Sprint victory on Saturday. The Brackley natives reacted in the main race, though, as Antonelli won the Miami GP from pole.

Antonelli’s third consecutive Grand Prix victory from pole was still not a straightforward win, however, as Norris could have won the Miami GP had McLaren pitted sooner. The Italian got back in front of the Briton by pitting one lap earlier, as he undercut the defending champion.

Here’s how the championship standings look after the Miami GP! 🏆

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Mercedes wanted to see how McLaren optimised their electrical power delivery in Miami

Norris winning the Miami Sprint from pole, as Oscar Piastri also secured McLaren a one-two finish in Florida, caught Mercedes’ eye. So much so, in fact, that Gazzetta dello Sport notes a rumour leaked into the paddock that Mercedes engineers wanted to look at McLaren’s data.

READ MORE: Lando Norris hints McLaren upgrade gained them seven-tenths on Mercedes

The telemetry from the Miami GP shows that the McLaren MCL40 and Mercedes W17 have converged after the former took a raft of updates to America. McLaren’s new floor, sidepods and rear wing ‘effectively transformed’ the MCL40, but their energy management stood out.

Mercedes engineers are believed to have wanted to understand how McLaren were able to optimise their electrical power delivery in some of the slower turns. Yet the W17 still has an advantage in terms of energy management, especially for recovering energy under braking.

The Silver Arrows’ greater understanding of how to recover energy under braking with their 2026 regulations engine was key for Antonelli to defend from Norris in the late stages of the Miami GP. But Mercedes can see that their engine customer McLaren are learning their PU.

Some brilliant performances in South Beach! But who is your Driver of the Day for the Miami Grand Prix?

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It was also evident between the F1 Sprint and the Miami GP that Mercedes had identified a way to improve their energy deployment to help Antonelli surpass Norris during qualifying. Even Red Bull through Max Verstappen and Ferrari with Charles Leclerc out-qualified Norris.

Antonelli scored pole for the Miami GP by 0.166 seconds over Verstappen in P2 on Saturday, while Norris could only qualify P4 with a 0.385s deficit to the Italian’s lap. And Jolyon Palmer felt Mercedes copied McLaren’s energy deployment strategy in Miami to help flip the script.

Palmer felt Antonelli’s lap times in qualifying for the Miami GP compared to Norris’ showed the Silver Arrows had realised they needed to deploy more energy in the first sector, having initially been harvesting “a lot” between Turns 3 and 4 during Sprint Qualifying last Friday.