Formula 1 is back after an unexpected one-month hiatus because of the war in the Middle East, and somehow the series has reconvened in Miami, right where we were and not where we were, if that makes sense.

It may not, but I’ll explain.

Through the first three races, there were two clear-cut top teams: Mercedes and Ferrari. Mercedes’ driver Kimi Antonelli had also won two straight Grand Prix coming into Miami, and is the current championship leader.

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However, teams brought a considerable number of upgrades — plus the FIA and F1 have tuned the regulations a little after some team feedback — and suddenly, we’ve got more teams battling toward the front.

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This was noticeable in Saturday morning’s Sprint, which featured a McLaren 1-2, led by reigning world champion Lando Norris.

But the bigger shakeup came in qualifying.

While the Silver Arrows’ 19-year-old superstar took pole by around a tenth and a half, what was surprising was that he was battling Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Red Bull had massive struggles through the first three rounds of the season and, even to Verstappen’s surprise during his post-session interview, was battling for pole.

Even wilder, there are four different teams represented on the first two rows of the grid: Mercedes with Antonelli on pole, Red Bull with Verstappen in P2, Ferrari with Charles Leclerc in P3 and McLaren with Norris in P4.

Now, all eyes are going to be on the start of what is expected to be a wet race.

Starts have been the Achilles’ heel for Mercedes, and especially Antonelli this season, something that was seen on Saturday morning during the Sprint.

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Fortunately for him, Verstappen’s starts haven’t been much better, but unfortunately, starting right behind Antonelli is Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, and the Scuderia’s cars have been absolute missiles off the line all season long (really since preseason testing).

So even with the short run into Turn 1 at the Miami International Autodrome, which is just under 200 meters, I think we’re going to see Leclerc jump at least one, maybe both, of the cars on the front row.

Maybe the wet weather can reduce that Ferrari advantage when the lights go out, but even if it does, Antonelli has Verstappen — a wet-weather fiend — alongside him.

Antonelli’s best chance of his third-straight Grand Prix will be best if he can get off the line cleanly and keep the lead out of Turn 1, but no matter what, this is shaping up to be the biggest challenge of his championship campaign so far.

Lando Norris will start the 2026 F1 Miami Grand Prix Sprint from pole position.

A dominant effort in SQ3 landed the reigning world champion his first pole of the season, beating Kimi Antonelli to P1, with the world championship leader starting on the front-row. 

Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc slot in behind, with the third row being Max Verstappen and George Russell, with Lewis Hamilton seventh. 

Elsewhere, Aston Martin was required to request permission to race in the Sprint after both cars failed to set a time in SQ1.

Alex Albon ended the session in 14th, but was demoted five spots in strange circumstances after the session.

The FIA found he had breached track limits during SQ1 – but the infringement was missed in real time, meaning he advanced into SQ2. By the time the stewards were notified, he had already taken to the track for the second segment.

Check out the full grid for the 2026 F1 Miami Grand Prix Sprint below!

NOTE: Grid remains provisional until officially confirmed by the FIA. 

Max Verstappen believes that Red Bull’s wealth of upgrades for the Miami Grand Prix have so far “almost halved” the gap to the leaders, but still sees weaknesses in this year’s RB22 to work on.

Red Bull caught the eye with its own interpretation of the “Macarena” rear wing; when the active aero system is turned on for straight mode, the wing rotates around 180 degrees. Although Ferrari was first seen in testing with the device, Red Bull was adamant that it had its own version in development long before it was ever seen in the flesh. 

The team also has new sidepods, increasing their width from side-to-side to incorporate a waterslide-like ramp along the top surface to offer more direction to the airflow passing over the top. 

To satisfy the reprofiled sidepods, the engine cover and the floor have been reworked. Furthermore, the exhaust also appears to have a flap at the exit port to work in a similar way to Ferrari’s exhaust winglet seen earlier this season.

Giving his first verdict of the updated RB22, Verstappen felt that the car was “more together”; he took it to fifth on the grid for the Miami sprint race, just under 0.6s off Lando Norris’ pole time. By comparison, Verstappen missed the Q3 cut-off in Suzuka, having been 1.2s slower than Kimi Antonelli in Q2.

“It feels more together. Of course, there are still things that we are working on. But it’s been a really positive step for us. Last few races we were over a second behind. I would say we have almost halved that gap now,” Verstappen said.

“So that’s positive. We’re still very weak in the first sector, which is mainly high speed. So we know that we need to work on that.

“But, yeah, the rest seemed all a bit more together. So a bit happier with that. At least it seems like we have cleared a little bit the midfield.

“It feels a bit more normal. It’s still not where I want it to be, obviously. But it’s at least allowing me to trust it a bit more. And I can basically take a bit more lap time out of it.”

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies told Sky Germany that the car’s new fittings were “in the right direction”, and that both drivers had agreed that the RB22 was now more consistent.

Although many of the updates had been targeted at aero load, Red Bull’s notes in the usual FIA technical document circulated to media stated that increasing flow stability was also key to its developments.

“It’s been a very intense five-week period. We know we had quite a lot of issues to get to the bottom of and I think that’s what the guys have done,” Mekies said.

“We knew coming here, especially after having run in Silverstone, [that] we had not solved everything. But pretty much we had the confirmation that we are going to the right direction. 

“It’s a closest gap to pole that we ever had this year. So, you know, don’t get me wrong. The competition is extremely strong. Everybody is progressing. 

“But also from the drivers comments from Max, for me, that it’s it’s something a bit more consistent, so definitely the direction of travel is better.”

Although Hadjar was also pleased to have a more competitive car, he was nonetheless puzzled by his one-second gap to Verstappen after sprint qualifying and could offer no explanation to the deficit.

“I got through SQ3, which is a start. But then to be a second off, I don’t know why.
I’ve never been more than a tenth off so far this year when it mattered,” Hadjar said. “So, yeah, I don’t know what’s going on.”

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– The Motorsport.com Team