Miami Grand Prix: Lando Norris beats Kimi Antonelli to sprint pole

McLaren’s Lando Norris has taken the sprint pole position at the Miami Grand Prix as McLaren continues their strong weekend in the Sunshine State.

Feature image credit: Pirelli

McLaren has broken Mercedes’ unbeaten streak in Formula 1’s opening day back to their 2026 season, at the Miami Grand Prix, as Norris seals sprint pole position with a pole time of 1m 27.869s.

It means Mercedes’ dominant run of fastest times in qualifying, across both traditional and sprint formats, has come to an end on Friday.

The Woking-based squad has enjoyed a strong start to the Miami GP weekend after taking a top-three position in the extended FP1, but the defending world champion has been on pace throughout sprint qualifying.

In two-thirds of sprint qualifying, Norris secured the fastest time, only losing out to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in SQ2. However, it was a close call as the Mercedes championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, missed out on the top spot by two-tenths.

Charles Leclerc tops extended sole practice at Miami Grand Prix

Norris’ teammate, Oscar Piastri, rounded out the top three, 0.239s behind the leading pace, showcasing that McLaren’s upgrades are working well in their first weekend in qualifying conditions.

Further down the field, Aston Martin suffered a painful end to qualifying, taking up the two slowest positions on the grid.

Lance Stroll failed to set a lap time on the board as the Canadian locked up into turn 17 and spent a brief amount of time on the run off, as he tried to get going again. Stroll soon pulled back into the pit lane and retired from the session.

Fernando Alonso, on the other hand, was able to set a lap time on the board, but he was over 12 seconds off the pace of Norris, who set the fastest lap time in SQ1.

Miami Grand Prix: the full F1 schedule and times

So, who qualified where for the Miami Grand Prix sprint race?

Provisional Sprint Grid:

22 – Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (No time set)

21 – Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +12.588s

20 – Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac +3.103s

19 – Sergio Perez, Cadillac +2.532s

18 – Esteban Ocon, Haas +2.522s

17 – Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls +2.32s

16 – Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls +2.24s

15 – Carlos Sainz, Williams +1.891s

14 – Alexander Albon, Williams +1.883s

13 – Oliver Bearman, Haas +1.783s

12 – Nico Hulkenberg, Audi +1.686s

11 – Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi +1.661s

10 – Pierre Gasly, Alpine +1.605s

9 – Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing +1.553s

8 – Franco Colapinto, Alpine +1.451s

7 – Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari +0.749s

6 – George Russell, Mercedes +0.624s

5 – Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing +0.592s

4 – Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +0.370s

3 – Oscar Piastri, McLaren +0.239s

2 – Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes +0.222s

1 – Lando Norris, McLaren – 1m 27.869s

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Charles Leclerc tops extended sole practice at Miami Grand Prix
• How F1 points are awarded if Miami Grand Prix is cancelled
• Miami Grand Prix: Storm threat raises risk of race disruption
• Miami Grand Prix: the full F1 schedule and times
• Miami Grand Prix: Weather warns thunderstorms for race day
• F1 Miami Grand Prix sole FP1 to be extended to 90 minutes

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