George Russell admitted his surprise at Mercedes’ streak of pole positions to start the season being ended by Lando Norris topping Miami Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying for McLaren.
Mercedes enjoyed a dominant start to the season, taking pole position and winning each of the first three races of the year, but a five-week gap since the Japanese Grand Prix has allowed rivals to bring upgrades that appeared to have a major impact on the first day of track action in Florida.
Norris took pole ahead of Russell’s team-mate – and the championship leader – Kimi Antonelli, while the Brit was down in sixth, also behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull each brought significant upgrade packages to Miami, while Mercedes only brought a couple of new parts as they wait for the Canadian Grand Prix later in May to bring a major package.
“Pretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari made. That’s pretty damn impressive,” said Russell. “We knew they had probably closed the gap but all day they were quicker than us.
“From my side, I’ve been struggling. Miami is not a track I love, especially in those hotter conditions but it’s only Sprint Qualifying, so let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
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Ted Kravitz takes an in-depth look at all the upgrades made by McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari ahead of the Miami GP weekend
Antonelli, who leads Russell at the top of the drivers’ standings after successive wins in China and Japan, appeared to have the edge over his team-mate throughout the day and backed that up with a fine lap at the end of Sprint Qualifying to split the McLarens.
Antonelli said: “It was a pretty messy session. I struggled a lot with the car. On the medium I couldn’t get a good lap in, then on the soft, all of a sudden, the car came alive.
“I think there was a bit left on the table. Despite everything, it was a decent result and with the team we did a great job to recover. Definitely we will dig deep tonight to see what we can do better in order to be faster.”
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George Russell admits he was surprised by the improvements made by McLaren and Ferrari during qualifying for Miami Sprint GP
Norris: McLaren step forward is a ‘pleasant’ surprise
Norris was quick throughout Friday and looks to have a big opportunity to make inroads into his 47-point championship deficit to Antonelli.
The reigning world champion says he “felt confident” in the car but was “surprised” by his two tenths margin to the rest of the field.
“I feel very good. I’m very happy for the team. It’s always a lot of expectations. A lot of work has gone into trying to bring these upgrades and it’s always just difficult to anticipate or to know what to expect coming into a new weekend,” he said.
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Watch as Lando Norris claims pole position for Miami GP Sprint
“But since lap one, literally, turn one, everything felt better. It felt a little bit more like last year with just having some confidence in the car. And I felt like I exploited that through the whole day today.
“So, a nice start to the weekend. Probably better than we were expecting, honestly. We were expecting better of course but we didn’t know in terms of quantity how it was going to be. So, a little surprise, but a pleasant one for sure.”
Norris’ strong showing was backed up by Piastri taking third, with the result more reminiscent of the dominant form McLaren delivered throughout much of last season.
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Lando Norris admits the McLaren car ‘felt better’ as he qualified on pole for the Miami GP Sprint
Hamilton: I hoped we would be better
While McLaren’s upgrades have vaulted them to the front, Ferrari’s updates have not had the same impact, despite the Scuderia bringing the most new parts to Miami with 11 new elements listed by the FIA, including a revised floor and suspension.
Lewis Hamilton was nearly eight tenths behind pole-sitter Norris in seventh and was left despondent over his lack of pace.
“We didn’t really know what to expect. I hoped we would be better but the car didn’t feel particularly great,” said the seven-time world champion.
“I thought we would be stronger than we were today. We have to do some work overnight to try to figure out why we are not that quick. I was hopeful coming here, positive, that we would be much higher but… not meant to be.”
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Lewis Hamilton admits his Ferrari didn’t perform as he hoped after he qualified seventh for the Miami GP Sprint
Leclerc was quickest in practice and the second part of Sprint Qualifying, so was expected to contend for Sprint pole.
However, he was unable to transform his pace on the mediums onto the softs when it mattered most but is hopeful Ferrari will have stronger race pace.
“The upgrades are fine. It’s just that everyone brought upgrades. We kind of expected that situation where Mercedes is the car to beat but McLaren have done a big step forward,” he continued.
“I felt like they didn’t really optimise their first races, so were always there but didn’t put everything together.
“On our side, today, we particularly struggled with tyres. The medium worked very well but on the softs it wasn’t a nice feeling, so we have to look at it.”
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The Miami Grand Prix is a unique experience, watch our favourite moments from the last few years!
Verstappen: Red Bull have almost halved deficit
Amid his dissatisfaction with F1’s new regulations for 2026, Verstappen’s frustration at his car’s performance over the opening three rounds had led the Red Bull driver to say he was considering his future in the sport beyond the end of the season.
The Dutchman’s fans will have been delighted to see a far more competitive showing from Verstappen in Miami, as he outpaced Russell and Hamilton to take fifth.
The four-time world champion had not qualified higher than eighth across the first three rounds, while he’s ninth in the drivers’ standings, already 60 points behind Antonelli.
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Red Bull debut a brand new rotating rear wing during practice at the Miami GP
Verstappen said: “It feels more together. Of course, there are still things we are working on, but it’s been a more positive step for us. The last few races we were over one second behind. I would say we have almost halved that.
“We are still very weak in the first sector, which is mainly high-speed [corners] so we know we need to work on that, but the rest seemed more together. It seems we have cleared the midfield.
“It feels a bit more normal and together. Still not where I want it to be, but it allows me to trust it a bit more and I can take a bit more lap time out of it.”
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Max Verstappen says his Red Bull feels ‘more together’ after the team made upgrades to the car ahead of the Miami GP
Sky Sports F1’s Miami GP schedule
Saturday May 2
2.55pm: F2 Sprint
4pm: Miami GP Sprint build-up
5pm: MIAMI GP SPRINT
6.30pm: Ted’s Sprint Notebook
8pm: Miami GP Qualifying build-up*
9pm: MIAMI GP QUALIFYING*
11pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*
Sunday May 3
5.25pm: F2 Feature Race
7pm: Miami GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
9pm: THE MIAMI GRAND PRIX*
11pm: Miami GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
12am: Ted’s Notebook*
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 is in Miami for a Sprint weekend as the 2026 season resumes, watch live on Sky Sports F1 with Sunday’s Grand Prix at 9pm. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime