McLaren’s Lando Norris snatched a surprise pole position for the 2026 Miami Sprint.
As F1 resumed the season after their unplanned spring break, Mercedes found themselves reeled in by their rivals on competitive pace as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped practice.
Norris however saved his pace to top sprint qualifying for his and McLaren’s first pole position of the season at the scene of his maiden win in 2024.
Practice
After a month off, Sainz was first on track and set 1m 53.206 as the initial unrepresentative benchmark time, whilst Leclerc posted 1m 33.620 to go fastest.
Leclerc soon exchanged the quickest lap times with Lando Norris and Max Verstappen but it was Norris who eventually won out as he lowered the benchmark to 1m 30.335 in the 18th minute.
Championship leader, Andrea Kimi Antonelli enjoyed a quiet session until he put together 1m 30.079 in the 25th minute to go fastest from Leclerc by 0.217 seconds.
Leclerc however proved quickest at the halfway mark of the session as he posted 1m 29.855 in the 44th minute to put himself top from the Italian, as the majority of drivers ran the hard tyre for much of practice.
His time however wasn’t beaten until the soft-tyre qualifying simulations as Verstappen put together 1m 29.776, but Leclerc found 0.333s to top practice with 1m 29.443 with ten minutes left of the session.
He then lowered the fastest lap to 1m 29.310 with two minutes left to put himself as favourite for sprint pole.
Antonelli, Norris and Nico Hulkenberg set their quickest lap times on the hard tyre, whilst Liam Lawson, Fernando Alonso, Arvid Lindblad and Lance Stroll’s fastest laps were achieved on the medium tyre.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m 29.310 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.297 |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.448 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.467 |
| 5 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.769 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.790 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.898 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.277 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | + 1.563 |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 1.620 |
| 11 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 1.705 |
| 12 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.714 |
| 13 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 1.781 |
| 14 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | + 1.801 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | + 2.285 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 2.325 |
| 17 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 2.338 |
| 18 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | + 2.737 |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 3.283 |
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | + 3.452 |
| 21 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | + 3.552 |
| 22 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 3.649 |
Sprint Qualifying
SQ1
After a quiet start to the segment, Bottas was the first driver to venture out and set 1m 32.317 as the initial benchmark time, which was quickly bettered by several drivers as Leclerc set 1m 29.290 as the benchmark time in the sixth minute.
Norris and Piastri however were caught out on their first fliers after Stroll had an off moment at Turn 17 which ended his session, once he recovered to the pit lane.
Norris however responded with 1m 28.723 with two minutes left to top SQ1 from Leclerc by 0.010s.
Lawson, Ocon, Perez, Bottas and Alonso however were eliminated alongside Stroll.
SQ2
Antonelli was first out on track and set 1m 29.242 as the benchmark time but Russell went 0.339s quicker than his Mercedes teammate, until Leclerc posted 1m 28.470 to set the pace from Piastri by 0.036s.
Bortoleto, Hulkenberg, Albon and Sainz found themselves in the elimination zone with three minutes left, whilst Bearman and Lindblad hadn’t conducted an opening run in the first half of this session.
At the checkered flag, Bortoleto and Hulkenberg qualified 11th and 12th on the grid for Audi ahead of; Bearman, Albon, Sainz and Lindblad.
Leclerc meanwhile topped SQ2 with 1m 28.333 from Piastri.
SQ3
With the soft tyre forecasted to only manage one flying lap, teams elected to keep their drivers in the pits until Russell was first out with four minutes left.
Russell set 1m 28.493 as the initial benchmark to head Hamilton but Norris saved a 1m 27.869 for his sole flying lap to snatch pole ahead of Antonelli and Piastri.
Leclerc found himself fourth on the grid ahead of Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton, whilst Colapinto outqualified Hadjar for eighth as Gasly propped up the top ten.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m 27.869 |
| 2 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.222 |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.239 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.370 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.592 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.624 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.749 |
| 8 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 1.451 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | + 1.553 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.605 |
| 11 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1m 29.994 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | + 0.025 |
| 13 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 0.122 |
| 14 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.222 |
| 15 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 0.230 |
| 16 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | + 0.579 |
| 17 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 1m 31.043 |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 0.202 |
| 19 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | + 0.212 |
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | + 0.783 |
| 21 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 10.268 |
| 22 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | No Time |
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