After an extensive break in the Formula One calendar, the fastest show on Earth is back on track. After the race in Japan, it was decided that the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix would be skipped this year amid the conflicts in the Middle East; instead, the drivers and teams would have a month-long break, allowing the FIA to find a solution to the issues regarding the 2026 regulations that saw the horrific 50G crash of Oliver Bearman.
With the month break, we saw plenty of drivers on vacation, relaxing, keeping themselves warm with a visit to the kart track for fun. On the other hand, we saw Max Verstappen climb into the Red Bull Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring. Would this extra seat time benefit the four-time world champion? Only the Miami Grand Prix will tell.
Miami F1 Sprint Qualifying
SQ1 had some shocking results, but nothing quite as shocking as the pace of Aston Martin. Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso were struggling early to find the pace, ending their SQ1 session in P21 and P22. The Cadillacs of Sergio Perez (P19) and Valtteri Bottas (P20), along with the Haas of Esteban Ocon (P18), struggled to find pace throughout SQ1 and a surprise P17 by Liam Lawson capped off the first round of eliminated drivers.
Throughout SQ1 into SQ2, it seemed McLaren was coming back to life after a tough stretch of bad luck. Oscar Piastri would leave the second round of Sprint Qualifying in P2, just under two tenths off the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, but the McLaren of Lando Norris was over a second off the lead pace, indicating some grip issues throughout the session. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) would find himself in an impressive P3, putting both Ferraris in a fantastic position for a memorable SQ3. The Mercedes were showing surprisingly average pace with a P4 from George Russell and P6 from Kimi Antonelli, but with it being early in the session, there is likely more in the tank.
SQ3 got a bit spicy, and Lando Norris seemed to find a whole second to put his McLaren on P1 out of nowhere, putting McLaren back on the top step. P2 was almost in the clutches of Oscar Piastri, but a soaring last lap time from Kimi Antonelli would split the McLarens and give him P2, with Piastri in P3. While Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari showed great pace in SQ2, he ultimately fell short, securing a P4 position for the Sprint Race and crossing the line just shy of four-tenths of a second off P1. Max Verstappen would clinch a hard-driven P5, leaving George Russell struggling slightly for P6, the same with Lewis Hamilton for P7, an impressive run by Franco Colapinto for P8, a disappointing P9 for Isack Hadjar, and Pierre Gasly qualifying in the top 10 once again to end the session.
Miami F1 Sprint Race
It was an unfortunate sight to see the Audi of Nico Hülkenberg up in smoke before the race even began, with issues shown in the pre-race as the Audi team scrambled to flush the engine and transmission, hoping to salvage their Sprint Race, to no avail.
Lights out and away we go — at least for the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, both of whom got a phenomenal start off the line to pull away in P1 and P2 with Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari in P3. A slow start from Kimi Antonelli due to wheel spin would see him drop back in the field — a bit of deja vu from previous races. The battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton for P6 saw some wheel-to-wheel contact early, but eventually Hamilton would take the position, making for an already action-packed and exciting opening lap.
Later laps showed the battle between Verstappen and Hamilton heating up, with Max making a bold late-braking move, running Hamilton off track and having to give the position back to Hamilton. On lap 10, Verstappen had another run, making another brave late-braking pass. This time it was clean, which made it stick; he successfully took P6 from Hamilton.
The Miami Sprint was off to an exciting start during the opening laps, but the racing settle down shortly, leaving drivers in their finishing positions with around 7 laps to go. The McLarens dominated with Lando Norris finishing P1 and Oscar Piastri P2. Charles Leclerc fought until the end and, while he couldn’t catch the McLarens, he finished a well-earned P3. Meanwhile, the Mercedes of Russell and Antonelli brought home home P4 and P5, with Max Verstappen finishing P6 and Lewis Hamilton in P7. Another impressive P8 finish for Pierre Gasly, P9 from Isack Hadjar, and P10 from Franco Colapinto.
Miami F1 Qualifying
I’ve always found it slightly odd how much the pace can change between sessions; the qualifying round was a great example. Right out of the gate, Kimi Antonelli set a scorcher of a lap to sit P1 in Q1 with Leclerc in hot pursuit. Out of the blue was Max Verstappen in P3, and an even bigger surprise with Isack Hadjar in P5; both Red Bulls found almost a second’s worth of pace between the Sprint and qualifying for Sunday. Meanwhile, Lando Norris crossed the line in P4, Oliver Bearman had an impressive session with a P6 exiting Q1, Lewis Hamilton struggled a bit in his Ferrari with P7, George Russell earned a slightly surprising P8 for, Carlos Sainz recovered in his Williams for P9, and Franco Colapinto rose to the challenge for P10.
Q2 was defined by the incredible pace of Max Verstappen, who found a bit more oomph in the car and crossed the line P1 ahead of Kimi Antonelli in P2 and Charles Leclerc in P3 — a difference of under two-tenths of a second between the three drivers. Oscar Piastri had a decent performance, crossing the line in P4, with Lewis Hamilton and his Ferrari close behind in P5. George Russell picked up the pace for P6, Lando Norris fell behind a bit in P7, Isack Hadjar landed in P8, and for the first time this season, Alpine made it to the final round of qualifying with Franco Colapinto in P9 and Pierre Gasly in P10.
With such pace from all drivers, the top 10 was a giant question mark. And, with the sudden improvement of the Red Bulls, it was truly four constructors fighting for P1. Charles Leclerc set the pace early in his Ferrari and was quickly overtaken by Kimi Antonelli moments later.
Now, drivers were ready for the race. There was plenty of time to find more pace throughout the session and snag P1 away from the young Antonelli and his Mercedes, and — with plenty of talent in the field and pace shown earlier on — this looked possible: position swaps, intense lap times, each driver pushing their car to its full potential. Yet the only driver to get close was Max Verstappen, with his neat and tidy P2 qualifying position, just under two-tenths of a second off Antonelli’s pole lap. Accordingly, Kimi Antonelli kept his P1 position with Max Verstappen close by in P2. Charles Leclerc crossed the line in P3 with Lando Norris so close in P4; George Russell in P5 qualified just ahead of Lewis Hamilton in P6. Oscar Piastri was unhappy with his P7 performance, while Franco Colapinto ended his fantastic day with a P8 position. Isack Hadjar had a rough end with his P9 finish, and Pierre Gasly once again qualified in the top 10.
Miami F1 Race: A Recap
Returning after a month-long break, F1’s return warrants immense excitement, and — after many people voiced their opinions on the dangers of the 2026 regulations — the changes made over the break seem to have brought the racing and cars closer together.
Immediately, the race kicked off with drama as the field charged into Turn 1. Fans were surprised to see the Red Bull of Max Verstappen putting the throttle down too early at the apex of Turn 2, causing him to lose the back end of the car and spin — a rare mistake from Max, and one that cost him a successful weekend and the possible victory.
Jam-packed with high-speed passes, contact, and active-aero trains, the Miami Grand Prix was filled with action. Alongside Max Verstappen’s mistake, cameras suddenly panned to Pierre Gasly’s Alpine perched on top of the tire barrier with damaged bodywork and a scuffed-up halo. While Gasly and Lawson were locked in intense battle laps just moments before, a brake lock-up from Lawson caused him to drive into the side of Gasly, sending him into a barrel roll and landing on the tire barrier. Gasly signalled to his team that he was okay, though both he and Liam Lawson retired from the Grand Prix.
The big battle of the race was Champion vs. Rookie: Lando Norris vs. Kimi Antonelli. Norris held a dominant pace all race, putting distance between him and Antonelli. The game changer was a late call for a pit stop to hard tires for Antonelli, giving him the upper hand and the opportunity to get around the McLaren of Norris to take the lead.
Lap after lap, the battle continued; the longer Antonelli was in clean air, the more he pulled away. This solidified his chances for the win, but it wasn’t over yet. Norris was pushing hard, catching the Mercedes ever so slowly, but Antonelli kept his cool and consistency, seeing the chequered flag first with Norris 2.7 seconds behind in P2.
The excitement didn’t end there. While the McLarens of Norris and Piastri took P2 and P3, there was still the battle for P4, P5, and P6. Fans of Charles Leclerc would be heartbroken to see his sudden spin on the final lap, grazing the wall during recovery, which allowed George Russell and Max Verstappen to catch up and become a part of the mix. When Russell made a bold move around the outside of Leclerc, contact between Russell’s front wing and Leclerc’s front tire damaged the Mercede. Russell hung on, however, with his front wing shooting sparks across the Miami pavement to take P4. Max Verstappen made a very late move through the last corner on Charles Leclerc, securing his P5 finish. Leclerc brought his Ferrari home in P6, with Lewis Hamilton landing in P7 and Franco Colapinto earning an impressive P8 finish for Alpine. To round out the top ten, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon crossed the line P9 and P10, respectively.
This victory makes it three in a row for Kimi Antonelli. Again, history has been made. Youngest winner, youngest back-to-back winner, and now youngest back-to-back-to-back winner. It’s been such an impressive season for him, and a great display of the young talent on its way from other series. Miami was kind to Mercedes; McLaren has proven they’re on their way back to fight for both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships.
Next stop? The beautiful and illustrious Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix. We’ll have plenty of coverage from the race, so stay tuned, and make sure you support Formula One and Canadian motorsport by watching the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, May 24th, 2026.
FEATURE PHOTO COURTESY OF LOUIS VUITTON.
