McLaren have enjoyed their best race of the Formula One season with Lando Norris dominating Oscar Piastri for a one-two in the Miami Grand Prix sprint – but the Australian runner-up then really struggled when they mislaid their pace in qualifying.
Piastri was left trailing his world champion teammate by 3.766 seconds in the 19-lap sprint on Saturday, suggesting McLaren’s upgrades might have transformed their season.
But McLaren’s enthusiasm was then quickly dented when Piastri could only finish seventh and Norris fourth in qualifying for Sunday’s main race, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli reasserted Mercedes’ mastery by making it three poles in a row.
On a day when Max Verstappen also roared back to his best in the Red Bull by finishing second in qualifying ahead of third-placed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, there was frustration for the world champion constructors McLaren with suggestions of power unit problems in qualifying.
Piastri had earlier ended up repelling a late challenge from third-placed Leclerc in the sprint to gain seven badly needed points in the championship race.
‘Yes, I’m mostly satisfied,’ he had shrugged, happy to have moved up from third on the grid as McLaren ended Mercedes’ early winning run in the first race back since the F1 season had an enforced break caused by the Middle East conflict.
Oscar Piastri had a torrid time in qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix after finishing second in the sprint race behind teammate Lando Norris
The Aussie will start from seventh on the grid as he tries to make up for a horror start to the season at the Melbourne and China races
Piastri (pictured racing in Miami) could not find any pace after McLaren appeared to have turned a corner with their early form in Florida
‘Obviously, I’ve a little bit to find to try and stay with Lando, but overall it’s been a good morning.’
Norris also couldn’t hide his delight at recovering that victorious 2025 feeling after he picked up eight points for the win, controlling the race with seemingly little trouble from pole as Mercedes were knocked off the podium for the first time in 2026.
But once qualifying came around with winds gusting, things changed dramatically with Piastri only just managing to make it into Q2 in 16th place. Told he had safely qualified, he noted dryly that ‘safely is an ambitious word.’
The Melbourne driver eventually had to settle for seventh in qualifying behind fifth-placed George Russell and sixth-placed Lewis Hamilton with Sunday’s race looking wide open, especially with the forecast being for storms and rain.
Teenager Antonelli is on pole for a third grand prix win in a row – and Mercedes’ fourth in four – after triumphs in China and Japan made the 19-year-old Italian the youngest driver ever to lead the championship.
But pole only came after a difficult sprint for Antonelli, who had a bad start from second on the grid, allowing Piastri to burst past him. He ended up fourth, but was demoted to sixth after a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.
After the break following the Japanese GP on March 29, with the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia cancelled, Antonelli’s lead has now been reduced with the youngster on 75 points, teammate Russell 68, Leclerc 55 with Ferrari colleague Lewis Hamilton 43, Norris on 33 and Piastri 28.
Piastri, who had begun the season calamitously by failing to get to the start in the first two races, has enjoyed two second-place finishes in a row in Japan’s main race and the Miami sprint.
