It could hardly be otherwise. Lando Norris, reigning world champion and a man with something to prove after a difficult start to the season, set the tone in the sprint qualifying in Miami. With a 1:27.869, the Brit clocked two tenths faster than the rest and secured his first pole position of 2026. And that exactly at the moment his team introduced its major upgrade. Telling.
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Behind him, the field neatly falls into the familiar pattern. Kimi Antonelli, who took pole position for the sprint race at exactly the same place last year, confirms his status as a serious title contender with a strong second time. McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri completes the first row and a half, barely seventeen thousandths behind the Italian.
Charles Leclerc is fourth for Ferrari, while Max Verstappen limits the damage for Red Bull in P5. Then follow George Russell and Lewis Hamilton on the starting grid. A notable standout is Franco Colapinto. The young Argentine qualified eighth for Alpine.
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The downside is painful. Racing Bulls brought it on themselves: Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson stranded in P15 and P16 respectively, well outside the top ten. But the real embarrassment is for Aston Martin, the backmarkers of this grid. Lance Stroll did not set a time and his teammate Fernando Alonso clocked a time slower than the slowest F2 time on this circuit. Painful!
UPDATE: Nico Hülkenberg had to pull his smoking Audi to the side on the way to the grid. He will not participate in this sprint race.
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The Miami sprint race starts shortly at 18:00 Dutch time.
Read everything about the GP Miami here
