F1 Miami GP: Norris leads dominant McLaren 1-2 in sprint race

Lando Norris claimed McLaren’s first victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season by winning the Miami Grand Prix sprint race in a 1-2 for the defending constructors’ champions.

The reigning drivers’ world champion finished 3.7s clear of team-mate Oscar Piastri, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completing the podium after the 19-lap contest around Hard Rock Stadium.

This was the first non-Mercedes victory of the 2026 campaign after the Silver Arrows won the opening three grands prix plus Shanghai sprint, but failed to bring many updates to Miami.

That is compared to various upgrades for McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull, which was represented in sprint qualifying as Norris pipped Kimi Antonelli to pole, with Piastri completing the top three.

Leclerc and Max Verstappen respectively rounded out the top five, while George Russell only mustered sixth, qualifying six tenths off polesitter Norris.

The reigning world champion enjoyed a solid getaway but it was another poor start for Antonelli, who dropped behind Piastri and Leclerc into fourth with Russell and Lewis Hamilton jumping Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images

Antonelli did fight back though, trying to force his way past Leclerc into Turns 8 and 11 yet the Ferrari driver held firm and took a dim view: “Kimi is so bad at wheel-to-wheel, I feel like we’re going to crash.”

In typical 2026 style that battle would have kept going in ‘yo-yo’ fashion, but changes were made for Miami with the super clipping limit increased to 350kW to decrease the reliance on energy management.

So instead of keeping with Leclerc, Antonelli actually fell back and was overtaken by team-mate Russell on lap eight at Turn 17, though the Italian regained fourth on the following tour.

That was at Turn 11, just seconds before Verstappen overtook Hamilton over the white lines at corner exit.

The Red Bull driver therefore handed sixth back to the seven-time world champion, before finally completing a legal move on Hamilton at Turn 17 on lap 10.

By this point, these were the only wheel-to-wheel battles happening, as the top three had streaked clear with a comfortable Norris 2.7s ahead of Piastri who led Leclerc by 1.3s.

The Ferrari driver subsequently tried to close on Piastri but it was too little, too late, particularly when he went deep at Turn 11 on the penultimate lap, so in typical sprint race style, drivers largely maintained position across the final tours.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images

Norris therefore completed a controlled win from pole ahead of Piastri and Leclerc, while Antonelli crossed the line in fourth and 2.5s behind the Monegasque.

The 19-year-old, however, was handed a post-race five-second penalty for track limit infringements, dropping him to sixth behind fourth-placed Russell and Verstappen in fifth.

Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly respectively completed the points positions, the Frenchman continuing a strong start to 2026 for Alpine.

As a result of the penalty, Antonelli’s championship lead over Russell has dropped to seven points, while Leclerc remains third ahead of Hamilton and fifth-placed Norris.

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