Lando Norris secured McLaren's first victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season by winning the Miami Grand Prix sprint race. Teammate Oscar Piastri finished second, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc taking third in the 19-lap event at Hard Rock Stadium. The result marks the first non-Mercedes win after their early-season dominance.
Lando Norris, the reigning drivers’ world champion, led a dominant McLaren 1-2 in Saturday's sprint race around Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. Norris finished 3.7 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri, with Charles Leclerc 6.251 seconds back in third. Starting from pole after pipping Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli in sprint qualifying, Norris controlled the race from the front as McLaren's upgrades paid off against Mercedes' lack of updates in Miami. Ferrari and Red Bull also brought improvements, contributing to a tighter field early in the season. Antonelli dropped to fourth off the line but battled back, pressuring Leclerc into Turns 8 and 11. Leclerc held firm, radioing: “Kimi is so bad at wheel-to-wheel, I feel like we’re going to crash.” Rule changes for Miami, including a super clipping limit increase to 350kW, altered the dynamics, causing Antonelli to fall back before overtaking teammate George Russell on lap eight, only to regain fourth briefly. Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton illegally before a clean pass on lap 10. Post-race, Antonelli received a five-second penalty for track limits, dropping him to sixth behind Russell (fourth) and Verstappen (fifth). Hamilton and Alpine's Pierre Gasly rounded out the points. The penalty reduced Antonelli’s championship lead over Russell to seven points, with Leclerc third, Hamilton fourth, and Norris fifth. Before the start, F1 observed a minute of silence for the late Alex Zanardi, who died aged 59, with tributes from drivers and teams.
