What we learned from the 2026 F1 Miami GP sprint race and qualifying
McLaren looked back to its best in Miami's sprint race, before the front pack shuffled again in qualifying as Kimi Antonelli took a third consecutive GP pole. Here's how Saturday unfolded
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You could be forgiven for thinking you'd stepped back in time to 2025. The McLaren drivers looked at ease when running at the tip of the pack during the Miami sprint race; Lando Norris in particular was a picture of serenity among the boisterousness and bombast of Formula 1's matinee around the Hard Rock Stadium. Oscar Piastri joined his team-mate in locking out a McLaren 1-2 finish after wafting away a late assault from Charles Leclerc, presenting a result that could have been plucked from the first half of last year.
The die, however, was certainly not cast. Parc ferme creaked open for the less-fortuitous runners and riders to tinker with their set-ups, as is now customary after the sprint events. Mercedes, for example, had been well off the mark in the sprint; while Kimi Antonelli nestled on the front row after Friday's sprint qualifying, another poor start had put him behind the McLarens and Leclerc's Ferrari, leaving him in the clutches of an off-colour George Russell.
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