McLaren
Norris is the first non-Mercedes driver to grab pole in 2026. The World Champion looked good from his very first laps in Miami, a track that suits his driving style. He did not get a representative flying lap in FP1 thanks to traffic in the form of Albon’s Williams, but more than made up for that in SQ1. While his SQ2 session was less than ideal – he used the word “woeful” – Norris more than made up for that with a scorching lap in SQ3 to grab pole by over two tenths of a second.
Piastri was building his way into the weekend more slowly than his team mate, but come SQ3 looked right in the mix. The Australian just did not have enough to match Norris though, and lost out to Antonelli by just 0.017s to end up P3.
Lando Norris, 1st, 1:27.869
"We came into this weekend having put a lot of hard work into these upgrades, but you can never be certain what to expect until the car is on the track. I'm incredibly happy for the whole team because, from the very first lap, it felt like we had taken a step forward. It gave me the confidence I've been looking for, allowing me to really push and exploit its potential straight away.
"It’s a great start, and it feels good to be right in the mix, but we're keeping our feet on the ground. It was incredibly close out there with several teams looking quick, and we know there are still plenty of unknowns, especially when it comes to race pace. We are still learning how to get the most out of this new package, but we've started as well as we could have asked for. For now, I'm happy with what we've achieved, and we will focus on making further improvements ahead of the sprint and Grand Prix Qualifying tomorrow."
Oscar Piastri, 3rd, 1:28.108
“I’m happy with that. The car had good potential, which was really nice to see. We still have things to improve, but the new package is a good step, so thank you to the whole team for their efforts. Congratulations to Lando as well - we didn’t luck into today’s result, the potential is there.
“The Ferraris looked strong throughout the day, so qualifying where we have is a really good effort. Whilst we expect the Mercedes to remain competitive, they haven’t looked as dominant so far, but there’s still a lot of track action to go. We’ll take the learnings from today and see what we can do in the Sprint, before we switch our focus to GP Qualifying.”
Neil Houldey, Technical Director - Applied Engineering
“We’re pleased with today’s result and performance across the opening day of running in Miami. The car has been great for both drivers, and the first phase of our development upgrades has shown promising signs.
“To come away with a Pole and third on tomorrow’s Sprint grid, given where we were in the first few races, is a strong step forward. Credit to the team at the factory for this first step, from aerodynamics and design through to manufacturing, and to the crew at the track who finished putting the package together, ready for today’s sessions.
“Now we need to carry this momentum into the rest of the weekend and aim to score as many points as we can. The pace is encouraging, the execution has been excellent, and the focus is on converting this step into results while continuing to gather and exploit further performance from the entire package.”
Mercedes
For the first time this season, Mercedes did not start the day with the fastest car. While Antonelli impressed on the hard compound in the only practice session, he did not set a time on the softs thanks to a power unit problem, with Russell also suffering some PU issues in that session and winding up over half a tenth off the leaders.
Most expected Mercedes to step up in Sprint Qualifying and Antonelli did, going out last in SQ3 and managing to grab a spot on the front row. Russell has admitted that this track and his driving are not a match made in heaven, as he could only manage sixth on the grid. This is the first time Mercedes are not on pole this season.
Kimi Antonelli, 2nd, 1:28.091
"We knew coming into this weekend that we would be in for a battle. Most teams have brought significant upgrades here and we knew that they would close the gap to us. With that said, I think we did a great job to recover from a difficult day to secure P2 for tomorrow's Sprint. I was struggling with the car on the Medium tyre but it felt better on the Soft compound. That gives me confidence that we have more performance to bring over the rest of the weekend.
"We will need to work hard though to unlock that speed. The Sprint gives us the chance to score some points and understand our long run pace better. We will need to take that into account when making changes for Qualifying and hopefully set ourselves up for a good Sunday."
George Russell, 6th, 1:28.493
"Whilst today was Sprint Qualifying and therefore not the most critical session of the weekend, we are disappointed with how our Friday turned out. We were overheating the tyres in the middle sector and struggled to find the right balance with the car. We need to work hard overnight to understand why that was. The meat of the weekend is still ahead of us, but we will need to improve if we are to be in the fight at the front.
"We knew our rivals would close the gap with their upgrades, but it was both surprising and impressive to see the size of the jump McLaren and Ferrari have made. I don't expect the Sprint to offer us many opportunities and we're not starting in a great place; let's see what tomorrow brings though and hopefully we can put in a better performance come Qualifying on Saturday afternoon."
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
"It's always important to hit the ground running on a Sprint weekend and we unfortunately didn't manage that today. We didn't have the car in the right place in FP1, and the drivers were struggling to put laps together from the off. Our long run pace was more encouraging but still not where we'd like it to be. Added to that, we had an issue that interrupted George's early running and another that brought an early end to Kimi's session, costing him laps on the Soft tyre.
"Our difficulties carried into Sprint Qualifying. Kimi faired better than George but it's clear that we have time to find overnight on our energy management and overall car set-up. It seems our competitors have brought a bit more performance to this event than we have, but the W17 has been a well-balanced car at all the circuits we've been to this year and today it has been a handful. We will work hard to improve that for Grand Prix Qualifying and into Sunday's race."
Ferrari
Leclerc was fastest in FP1, impressing from word go and looking strong as he so often does at street tracks – especially over one lap. The heavily upgraded Ferrari looked in good shape to fight for pole, with Leclerc the pick of the two drivers all day long. But come Sprint Qualifying, the Monegasque driver did not have a fully clean final lap, leaving time out there. From P4 on the grid, the fans should see if Ferrari still have the fastest start tomorrow. As for Hamilton, he got closer and closer to his team mate through the sessions on Friday, but suffered a shifting problem in SQ3 and had to be content with P7.
Charles Leclerc, 4th, 1:28.239
"Today, our main weakness was the tyres. The Mediums worked well, but the Softs weren’t as great, so we have to look into that. I think that we can try to do some fine-tuning ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying and find more performance.
"Our race pace is quite strong so we will push to see if we can make something happen in the Sprint, especially in terms of overtakes."
Lewis Hamilton, 7th, 1:28.618
"I’m disappointed with the final result of Sprint Qualifying but it’s early in the weekend and we’ll be working hard to have a good Sprint race tomorrow and Qualifying."
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal
"We were very competitive in the first two phases, but then we didn’t put together good laps in SQ3 and our best result was a P4. We have to analyse all the data and focus on what we need to improve. We were losing a couple of tenths in a straight line today, but that’s not just down to the engine or to the chassis, it’s down to the whole package. This is less evident in race mode so it might not be the case tomorrow in the Sprint."
Alpine
Alpine were the only midfield team to make it to the top 10 shootout, getting both cars into SQ3 in what was a highly impressive performance. What was even more impressive was the form of Colapinto, who out-qualified his team mate for the first time this season. He starts in the points-paying positions, and will hope to get off the line well as there will be plenty of pressure from behind in the form of Red Bull’s Hadjar.
Pierre Gasly, 10th, 1:29.474
“I am a bit disappointed with the end result on my side today as I felt there was so much more potential in the package had we had a bit more time to rectify a few discomforts in the car from Practice. I have not felt totally comfortable from the first lap today with something not quite working on my side. I seem to have a lot of wheelspin, which is something we will certainly aim to fix ahead of tomorrow. That's the nature of Sprint events, where we only have one Practice to identify and solve a few things ahead of the first competitive action of the weekend. Still, with both Franco and I in SQ3, it means it's a positive team result and one everyone should be pleased with, especially as it shows we are able to be competitive on different tracks and proves our package is well in the mix for points. That's our aim this weekend and we will push hard to fix some issues and try to be even higher up the order.”
Franco Colapinto, 8th, 1;29.320
“I'm happy with today's result, but I'm also happy how we achieved the result, and we managed to turn things around from a difficult position, as it was quite tough and it took us a while to understand how the car was behaving earlier in the day. We found some improvements and finally felt in a good rhythm and put in some good laps, building speed and confidence each session. It's important to do that over a Sprint weekend in particular which can be difficult. It was nice to have the break in the season to reset and go again, and today is a really positive result for the team, with both myself and Pierre into SQ3 and saving a set of Soft tyres for tomorrow. We worked well with the engineers in the break to understand where we can improve and this is hopefully a sign of that hard work paying off. The pace is looking strong and we're hoping that carries over into tomorrow and for the rest of the weekend.”
Steve Nielsen, Managing Director
“It's great to be back racing again and straight into competitive action, such is the nature of Sprint events. Naturally, after a good race weekend in Japan last time out, we wanted to continue our run of form and pick up from where we left off. Both cars reached SQ3 today which is a real positive, especially with other teams bringing significant upgrades to their cars. We ran the new rear wing on Pierre's car today, which we will continue to assess and develop, and today proved a good comparison for some of those newer items. Franco did a really good job today for his first time in Miami and we have both cars in the fight for points tomorrow with the added bonus of saving a set of new Soft tyres, potentially for the Sprint Race. We will continue to work to find where we can gain performance to further close the gap to the cars ahead, but we can certainly be pleased with how today has unfolded and the competitiveness of our package.”
Audi
Audi spent much of practice sporting flow-vis paint on their cars, as they tried to understand their upgrade package. The parts they have brought seem to be working well, with their team mates evenly matched on Friday over one lap. In the end, neither could make it to the top 10 shootout, Bortoleto getting the closest in P11 – he missed out by just 0.021s. But there are encouraging signs for Audi that their package remains competitive, with another chance to show what they can do over one lap coming up tomorrow.
Nico Hulkenberg, 12th, 1:30.019
“Coming into the weekend, expectations were fairly open, but overall, it was a decent session for us. It wasn’t perfect, but I think we extracted what was there today. There’s still a lot of racing to be done. Our race pace has looked quite solid recently, so the focus now is on putting everything together when it counts. Conditions here will be a factor, especially with the heat, so it should be an interesting one.”
Gabriel Bortoleto, 11th, 1:29.994
"Obviously, I’m a bit disappointed not to make it through to SQ3, it was close and I felt like we had the potential today. The lap itself wasn’t too bad, but there were a few small things here and there that could have gone better. At the same time, I'm happy because we had a couple of challenges in FP and we lost half an hour, so happy to go to Sprint Qualifying and still be able to progress. It felt like the car did a good step."
Allan McNish, Racing Director
“It was a good recovery after a not ideal FP session, and overall, a very tight qualifying. Both drivers missed out on SQ3 by just a couple of hundredths of a second, which shows how fine the margins are. We came into the session knowing that if everything came together, we could be in that fight, and ultimately, we were right on the edge of it. While it’s frustrating to miss out by such small differences, it also highlights how competitive the field is and where we need to focus to make the next step. On the positive side, the feedback from both drivers on the balance of the car was encouraging and we’re in a reasonable position heading into tomorrow. There’s still a lot up for grabs”
Haas
Haas did not have the Sprint Qualifying they were hoping for on home soil in Miami. Ocon exited at the first time of asking, and his lack of pace looked to be car-related, given Bearman did not do much better. The youngster at least made it to SQ2, running just the once on his way to a P13 grid slot. The good news for Haas is that one of their midfield rivals did not do much better. The bad news is that Alpine did, with work to do for Haas to try and improve for the rest of the weekend.
Ocon later inherited a grid position, with Albon being moved from P14 to P19.
Esteban Ocon, 17th, 1:31.245
"Unfortunately, it's been a rough day. We had an untidy FP1 with some deployment issues and we weren't able to get a clear low fuel run. We also didn’t have a great car underneath us, so it was quite difficult to put a lap together. Obviously there was the lock-up as well and it's not the first one of the day. There's plenty to work on."
Oliver Bearman, 13th, 1:30.116
"It’s been a tough day, as it’s been the hottest conditions we’ve driven these cars in, and it’s posed a few challenges. It’s been challenging to put the car on the limit and it’s been a bit unpredictable, plus with the abundance of low-speed corners, I’ve been struggling to have a balance that I can trust and push. We made a big step from FP1 to Sprint Quali, I’m really happy about that, and we need another step of that magnitude for tomorrow."
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal
"I think the first day back running, in FP1, our operations weren’t great, but the car hasn’t been easy to drive either. Both drivers struggled to put a lap together in the hot temperatures. In Sprint Quali, on Ollie’s side, we almost maximised everything – he had one oversteer moment, but other than that he was very close to getting into SQ3. With Esteban, he should be close to Ollie, but he had a lock-up in SQ1, and we’re looking into why. I think tomorrow, if we get everything out of the car and we operate cleanly, we should be looking at the top 10. Even though we didn’t bring an upgrade here, other than Alpine being quick, in terms of the midfield, we can still fight with everyone. We need a clean Sprint, and improve a bit more for qualifying on Saturday afternoon."
Williams
Both Albon and Sainz were cautious when assessing the team’s upgrades, saying it will take all season for the car to shed some of its weight. But whatever Williams have done is a step forward, as both drivers made it out of SQ1 – the first time this season they have not lost a car at the first time of asking in either qualifying format. Albon was in the thick of the action all day long, nearly coming a cropper with Norris in FP1 before running wide more than once. He wound up just bettering his team mate by 0.008s.
But after the session was complete, the stewards investigated the Thai driver and found he had exceeded track limits in SQ1, which resulted in his lap time from that segment being deleted. He fell from P14 to 19th as a result.
Alex Albon, 19th, 1:30.216
"Overall, it's been a more positive weekend so far and the car felt in a better place today. We were exploring different philosophies in the extended FP1 but there was still not enough time to test things ahead of the weekend, but this is progress from the team and shows that the upgrades are working. A disappointing end to the day due to track limits, but tonight we will go through the data, dive into the details, and see where we can improve ahead of the Sprint and qualifying tomorrow. It’s still early on in the weekend but we’re making steps forward."
Carlos Sainz, 14th, 1:30.224
“This weekend we have taken a step in the right direction compared to previous races, so that’s a positive. Unfortunately, we had energy deployment issues which made me lose valuable tenths in the fight for SQ3. It was frustrating, but I’m positive for tomorrow as we should be able to recover that performance on both the Sprint and qualifying.”
James Vowles, Team Principal
"After the last five weeks of work, it is good to see that we are making small improvements relative to the field with both cars into SQ2, but not a perfect day. There was more to come from getting everything absolutely nailed on, and I enjoy that pursuit of every millisecond, so we'll come back fighting tomorrow and see what more we can do."
Racing Bulls
Racing Bulls are sporting a yellow-themed livery here, and while it is eye-catching out on track, the same could not be said for the times the car produced today. The team have not brought as many upgrades as some of their rivals and seem to have slipped backwards in the pecking order as a result. Lawson was the first to go, exiting in SQ1 but left frustrated after believing Albon’s Williams exceeded track limits and thus cost him a place in SQ2. Lindblad only ran once in SQ2 and could not progress, winding up down in 16th as the team’s focus must surely shift to learning what they can to improve for Qualifying and the Grand Prix.
Both drivers inherited a grid slot after the session after Albon's SQ1 lap time was deleted.
Arvid Lindblad, 15th, 1:30.573
"After a tough FP1, SQ1 went well and the car was performing well. I gave it everything on that final push lap, but it just didn’t come together in SQ2. There’s still a lot for us to look into. We had some brake issues and a few smaller problems, which made the car difficult to drive, so being competitive now is a relief. A big thank you to the team for turning things around so quickly between sessions. We’ll review where we went wrong today and look to improve tomorrow."
Liam Lawson, 16th, 1:31.043
"A series of unfortunate events in SQ1 meant that we didn't have the Sprint Quali we were hoping for today. We misplaced the garage exit which led to us being further back on the track, and we didn't have a strong out lap either. I then had a flat spot and destroyed the tyre on lap one and driving the second lap on the flat-spotted tyre led to too many vibrations. The car has improved from this morning though, so we'll take positives from this into tomorrow."
Tim Goss, Chief Technical Director
"First Practice and Sprint Qualifying today didn’t go entirely to plan today for us; we came away feeling we could have achieved more. Arvid suffered some tyre damage on both sets this morning, hampering his need to familiarise himself with a new track. Despite this, he delivered a really good performance in SQ1, to put the car into SQ2. Liam had a good Practice session on the other hand and completed high-fuel preparations for the Sprint and Race. He struggled a little under braking on his first flying lap in SQ1 and then for his second attempt he just missed the cut into SQ2. We line up for the Sprint in P16 and P17 and will look to maximise our learning ahead of tomorrow's Race."
Cadillac
Cadillac are racing at home for the first time, and had a fairly decent first day in Miami. Both drivers ran well in FP1, getting plenty of laps on the board with no obvious reliability woes. Over one lap in Sprint Qualifying, Perez was the faster of the two and even managed to get within a hundredth of Ocon’s Haas. There look to be steady signs of improvement from the team in terms of competitiveness, which is exactly what they are after at this early stage in the season.
Valtteri Bottas, 20th, 1:31.826
“The car feels better with the upgrade, so that’s good. We’ve definitely gained some load especially in high to medium speed. There’s still the need to take further steps, but at least the feeling is better and we’re heading in the right direction. We’ll see what can happen in the Sprint Race tomorrow and the rest of the weekend as we continue to understand our package.”
Sergio Perez, 18th, 1:31.255
“I was very happy with my lap in Sprint Quali, and the pace is promising, but sadly I only had the one run. At some points we were looking like we were going to make it to SQ2, which is already progress, but the priority now is to get on top of our issues. I only had one run as we went out too late and then didn’t have time to refuel and make a second run. In practice we also lost some track time, so we are a bit on the back foot. When we get on top of this, we’ll be able to maximise the package, which is a step forward. We now need a smooth day tomorrow and see where we end up on Sunday.”
Graeme Lowdon, Team Principal
“We brought a substantial aero upgrade package this weekend, which has translated to more load through the corners and ultimately more laptime on track. The upgrades were on both cars, although Checo was missing one part that may have added a little bit but this will be rectified in rotation agreed between the drivers and team. He could potentially have made it to SQ2 had he got a second run but sadly we missed this after visiting the weigh bridge. This was a missed opportunity but we will learn from it and it shows that we have made a step forward. Valtteri likewise had a decent session so there’s some real promise. We now need to maximize everything operationally and technically to make the most of this progress.”
Aston Martin
Aston Martin’s day did not get off to a dream start, with a power issue in the garage delaying both cars coming out onto track in FP1. When they did join the fray, the team remained somewhat off the pace. Stroll’s Sprint Qualifying did not go to plan either, as he locked up and ran wide, taking some time to rejoin the track. From there he pitted and thus did not set a lap time. Alonso did, but it was unrepresentative as Aston Martin locked out the last row on the grid.
Fernando Alonso, 21st, 1:41.311
"A tough Friday for the team here in Miami.
"Honda have made some improvements on the vibrations since the first few races, but we're still lacking pace.
"It's a process that will take time, and we need to stay patient. We'll look at the data tonight and try to make the most of the rest of the weekend."
Lance Stroll, 22nd, No time set in SQ1
"A tricky Friday for us in Miami – I was hoping to get one or two push laps in during Sprint Qualifying today, but unfortunately suffered from front locking so didn't set a time. We need to look into it and understand why both cars suffered this issue.
"There's lots for us to look at and work on overnight ahead of tomorrow, let's see what learnings we can find."
Pirelli
Simone Berra, Pirelli Chief Engineer
"Today’s free practice session felt like a real step back in time. The extension to 90 minutes allowed us to gather a large amount of data over meaningful mileage that would not normally be covered in a standard one-hour session. The most widely used compound was the Hard, the most suitable for the analysis work carried out today on power units and aerodynamic updates. The information gathered in Miami will also be useful for the upcoming rounds, as the C3 is the compound that appears most frequently in race weekend selections.
"The laps completed on the Medium and Soft tyres, on the other hand, made it possible to identify the performance delta between the three compounds, which was quantified at around half a second, in line with simulation expectations. Track conditions are not yet optimal, as shown by a few lock-ups into Turn 1, but they will improve progressively through to Sunday. Today the degradation observed was limited and purely thermal in nature, due to record-high track temperatures.
"It is interesting to note that in Sprint Qualifying there is only a 1.4-second gap compared to last year’s best time. With this new generation of cars, the gains achieved through the Miami corners taken with the DRS closed clearly seem to compensate for the lower straight-line speeds."
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