Following a chaotic Miami Grand Prix marked by incidents and penalties, Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured his third consecutive 2026 F1 victory, extending his championship lead over teammate George Russell to 20 points. The 19-year-old outperformed rivals despite major upgrades from McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull, with George Russell struggling in qualifying.
Antonelli's Miami success capped wins in China and Japan earlier in March. In China, he capitalized on Russell's qualifying woes; in Japan, a poor start was salvaged by a safety car, propelling him to the top of the standings after Suzuka.
Miami, detailed in our race report, was demanding as rivals introduced upgrades narrowing Mercedes' advantage. Starting from pole—echoing last year while Russell took P5 in qualifying—Antonelli dropped early but recovered via strategy, holding off McLaren's Lando Norris (whom he beat by 3.264s) and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc amid spins, crashes, safety cars, and penalties that shuffled the order (final top 8: Antonelli, Norris, Piastri, Russell P4, Verstappen P5, Hamilton P6, Colapinto P7, Leclerc P8 after penalty).
Russell admitted ongoing Miami challenges: “This is a track I've always struggled with. Kimi was pole last year, I was P5, today he's pole and I'm P5. It's just very low grip here, you're sliding around a lot, tarmac's hot. Similar to Brazil, Kimi again was more competitive than me there.” He prefers high-grip tracks.
Antonelli delivered flawlessly, battling Leclerc early and Norris later. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff praised his composure post-race, speaking to Antonelli's father Marco: “That is the risk that he's been carried away too quickly. And therefore, I know with the parents, we know that the parents are going to keep him grounded. Right, Marco?” Wolff called his weekly opportunity-grabbing 'special,' urged staying grounded at 19, and noted Mercedes' Canada upgrades amid fierce competition.
Antonelli's karting/junior pedigree shone, though Wolff stressed consistency as adversity looms.
