Ferrari’s much‑vaunted Miami upgrade looked potent in the only 90-minute practice session, with Charles Leclerc topping the lone run in the upgraded SF‑26 with a 1:29.310, about 0.297 seconds clear of Max Verstappen. The upgrade failed to deliver over a single hot lap in Sprint Qualifying, and Leclerc slipped to fourth in SQ3, nearly four‑tenths adrift of Lando Norris’s sprint pole time. Ferrari blamed the loss of single‑lap performance to the soft compound tires and said the team would work overnight to understand the shortfall while expressing confidence in stronger race pace.

McLaren’s upgrade arrived as a clear step forward. Lando Norris posted a 1:27.869 to take Sprint pole, McLaren’s first pole of the season, and Oscar Piastri backed that up with strong practice and a P3 in Sprint Qualifying. Teams had brought wide upgrade packages to Miami, and McLaren’s aerodynamic and technical revisions appeared to return the team to the front, ending Mercedes’ recent one‑lap advantage. Red Bull showed signs of improvement in practice but lacked the outright SQ3 pace to match McLaren, and tire choice and execution emerged as decisive variables for Sprint order.

Mercedes’ weekend was punctuated by power‑unit and packaging concerns that limited running and complicated qualifying preparation. Both Mercedes cars reported engine or turbo issues in practice that prevented planned soft‑tire runs. Kimi Antonelli suffered a power‑unit problem, and George Russell reported unusual turbo noise. The team still extracted a P2 from Antonelli and P6 from Russell in Sprint Qualifying, but Lewis Hamilton finished seventh and said the car didn’t feel particularly great. With only a single practice to evaluate packages, teams left Miami facing a tighter, more fluid pecking order and a night of work to diagnose reliability and tire problems before the race.

Stewards late in the session ruled Alexander Albon had exceeded track limits at Turn 6 and, invoking Article 11.7.1.a of the International Sporting Code, deleted his SQ1 time and consequently all his SQ2 lap times. The decision, made after SQ2 had already started, relegated Albon from P14 to P19 on the Miami Sprint grid and forced a reshuffle of the starting order.

Officials said the breach was not reported until SQ2 had begun, which meant Albon had already been allowed to contest SQ2. Racing Bulls flagged the infringement after replay footage suggested he went beyond the white line, and the automatic track-limits detection system did not register the event. Race control deleted nine lap times by six drivers in total, and only one of those deletions specifically involved Turn 6. Stewards reviewed Albon’s onboard footage after he had already gone out in SQ2 and summoned him during SQ3.

The late discovery directly affected Racing Bulls and Liam Lawson, who had been kept in the car to contest SQ2 and who publicly criticized the timing of the ruling, saying, “I could not understand how it happened,” “I honestly can’t understand how that’s possible,” and describing his weekend as “a series of bad events.” Drivers noted the white line at Turn 6 was hard to see because rubber from support events had obscured it, and race organizers planned to repaint the line overnight. Officials referenced a 2022 precedent in which Sergio Perez was later penalized after a belatedly discovered breach. The deletion promoted Carlos Sainz, Arvid Lindblad, Liam Lawson, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez up the sprint order. Albon had originally progressed with a best SQ time of 1’30.988, while Lawson was eliminated in SQ1 in 17th with a 1’31.043, missing the SQ2 cut by 0.06 seconds; Racing Bulls finished with both cars outside the top 15 (Lindblad 16th, Lawson 17th).

Lando Norris put McLaren back at the front by taking Sprint qualifying (SQ3) pole for the Miami Grand Prix in an upgraded MCL40. Norris set a 1:27.869 in SQ3 to claim top spot, beating championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 0.222 seconds; some outlets rounded the gap to 0.2 seconds. The result gave McLaren its first pole of the season and sets Norris up as the favorite for Saturday’s 19‑lap Sprint, which he will start from pole.

McLaren’s heavily upgraded package, reported as seven upgrades including aerodynamic changes, delivered a clear gain. Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri took two of the top three places, with Piastri third. Ferrari and Red Bull also brought major updates to Miami, and the session was the first competitive running after the FIA’s mid-season rule refinement intended to ease energy management. The top five were split by just 0.592 seconds, with Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen.

Mercedes elected to delay a larger upgrade for Miami and ran a smaller package, and the team had mixed fortunes in qualifying. George Russell reported unusual turbo noises and said tire overheating and balance issues hurt his pace, and Mercedes delayed his SQ1 start to work on the power unit. Antonelli missed soft-tire running in FP1 because of engine work but still qualified second. Several teams hit trouble, with Aston Martin failing to log proper laps for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll and leaving them at the back, while Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas were eliminated early and will start 19th and 20th. The reshuffle caused by upgrades and the rule tweak sets up a competitive Sprint showdown in Miami.

Lando Norris secured Sprint qualifying pole at the Miami Grand Prix driving an upgraded McLaren, posting a 1:27.869 lap in SQ3 to end Mercedes’ early-season run of poles and wins. He credited McLaren’s new aerodynamic package with restoring grip and said the team effectively ran a brand-new car for the weekend. Norris said he missed Turn 16 on his pole lap, briefly debated doing additional flying laps in SQ3 before committing to a single final run, and described his SQ2 showing as “woeful,” saying he had been about a second off the pace in that segment.

Mercedes championship leader Kimi Antonelli split the McLarens with a 1:28.091 in SQ3, 0.222 seconds adrift of Norris, and Oscar Piastri qualified third with a 1:28.108. Charles Leclerc was fourth, Max Verstappen fifth, George Russell sixth and Lewis Hamilton seventh. Franco Colapinto took eighth, Isack Hadjar ninth and Pierre Gasly tenth. The session was the first competitive running after an FIA mid-season rules refinement affecting energy and battery use, and several teams including Ferrari and Red Bull also brought upgrades while Mercedes elected to delay its own package.

The weekend featured mixed running and technical troubles for rivals, including Mercedes work on Russell’s power unit and unusual turbo noises, and several drivers failing to post representative times after incidents for Lance Stroll and others. Aston Martin failed to log proper laps for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, compromising their sprint qualifying. Norris was later summoned to the stewards over an allegation of “driving unnecessarily slowly” during qualifying, with a meeting scheduled in Miami and no decision issued at the time of reporting, so his pole remained under investigation. The 19-lap sprint is scheduled for Saturday at noon local time.

Lando Norris claimed Sprint pole at the Miami Grand Prix in an upgraded McLaren that returned the team to the front. He set a 1:27.869, edging championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 0.222 seconds. Oscar Piastri completed a McLaren front row in third, 0.239 seconds off Norris, with Charles Leclerc fourth. The result put McLaren on top of this season’s qualifying for the first time and set the grid for Saturday’s Sprint, which will start at 12 p.m. local time.

Antonelli recovered to second after missing the end of FP1 with an engine issue. He found late pace to narrowly beat Piastri by under 0.02 seconds. Mercedes experienced problems when George Russell reported unusual turbo noises, and the team delayed his SQ1 start while they worked on his power unit. Most outlets reported Lewis Hamilton fifth, while one named Max Verstappen. Russell finished sixth. Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto and Isack Hadjar also made the top 10.

The session featured several disruptions and eliminations. A yellow flag followed Lance Stroll’s heavy lock-up at Turn 17; Aston Martin briefly rebooted his car but then retired it before he could set a time. Fernando Alonso was eliminated in SQ1, roughly 12 seconds slower than Norris. Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez were knocked out in the elimination zone, with Perez taken to the garage amid reports of a possible MAC-26 issue. Esteban Ocon was eliminated after a Turn 1 lock-up, and Liam Lawson exited after braking problems.

Lando Norris took sprint pole at the Miami Grand Prix, posting a 1:27.869 in SQ3 to beat Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli by 0.222 seconds. The result ended Mercedes’ early-season run of poles and put McLaren’s heavily upgraded car back at the front. Norris credited McLaren’s new package with restoring grip, and the session was the first competitive running after a five-week break and the FIA’s mid-season energy-management rule refinement.

Oscar Piastri split the front of the grid by qualifying third, with Charles Leclerc fourth and Max Verstappen fifth in an updated Red Bull. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were sixth and seventh, respectively. Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly completed the top ten. Several teams arrived in Miami with major upgrade packages, McLaren running seven upgrades and Ferrari introducing multiple changes, while Mercedes ran a smaller upgrade and said it planned a larger set for the Canadian Grand Prix.

The results underscored a reshuffle in short-run pace ahead of Saturday’s 19-lap Sprint, with McLaren’s development delivering an immediate gain. The weekend also included factors that affected running, including a practice power-unit issue for Mercedes that limited Antonelli’s soft-tire work and problems for Aston Martin that left Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll without representative Sprint laps. Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas were left at the back of the Sprint qualifying order.

Red Bull ran its rotating “Macarena” rear wing in first practice at the Miami Grand Prix, sparking debate over whether the device copied Ferrari’s concept. The team publicly denied any copying. Ferrari first showed a rotating rear wing in Bahrain pre-season testing, briefly used it in China and tested updated versions at Monza before bringing a new iteration to Miami. Ferrari team principal Laurent Mekies said Red Bull had developed the idea well before putting it on track and had delayed use while addressing larger performance problems.

Red Bull said it developed and submitted its rotating-wing concept to the FIA in 2025, and tested it at Silverstone and during a filming day, maintaining the design was independently developed. Technically the two solutions differed, with Red Bull’s wing rotating about 160 degrees in the opposite direction to Ferrari’s up-to-270-degree concept and using revised attachments and a modified centerline profile to increase travel, generate lift and reduce drag. Red Bull’s variant featured a noticeably larger actuator and greater travel, which observers said increased the magnitude of the flap movement. Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz described the device as cutting drag and said it “allows one heck of amount of travel,” and Jenson Button judged Red Bull’s implementation to be considerably faster than Ferrari’s. Red Bull ran the flap in FP1 to assess on-track behavior and aerodynamic benefit ahead of further sessions and potential race deployment.

The rotating rear wing formed the centerpiece of a seven-part upgrade package for the RB22 that also included front-wing tweaks, revised corner inlets, more aggressively dropped sidepods with a prominent waterslide, an updated engine cover, a new floor and a small “mini” wing on the exhaust inspired by Ferrari developments. The upgrades targeted longstanding balance issues and were expected to roughly halve the car’s initial ~12 kg weight excess, with Red Bull aiming to reach the 768 kg minimum weight by the European rounds, likely Austria or Britain. Early signals from the upgrades were positive in running, and Mekies cautioned fans not to expect miracles after a difficult start to the season.

Charles Leclerc topped the 90-minute FP1 in Miami with a lap of 1:29.310, 0.297 seconds clear of Max Verstappen. Oscar Piastri was third in McLaren’s revised MCL40.

The FIA granted an extra 30 minutes to Friday’s FP1 under the new sprint regulations, and teams used the extended running to debut major upgrade packages ahead of the compressed weekend. Red Bull brought multiple changes including the ‘Macarena’ wing plus floor and rear-brake work. McLaren ran a heavily revised MCL40 and Piastri used flo-vis paint to gather aero data. Ferrari introduced a substantial update that proved quickest in the session.

Mercedes fitted only minor upgrades and suffered power-unit concerns. George Russell reported a noisy turbo, pitted with a suspected turbo issue and was late to run, leaving the team down the timesheets. Aston Martin experienced early power-unit and electrical teething problems that initially kept Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso in the garage before both cars later collected data. The issues raised reliability questions for some Honda-powered runners. Friday’s sprint qualifying will further test the upgrades and any fixes.

The FIA has banned full electric boost in wet or low-grip conditions for the Miami Grand Prix under Article B7.2.1g (FIA-F1-DOC-058), citing safety concerns with the new hybrid power units. The rule will be applied during the Miami weekend if heavy rain or low-grip conditions materialize, and the FIA said the immediate, weather-triggered measure did not require the usual route through the F1 Commission; teams were reported to have backed broader regulatory tweaks.

The ban prevents drivers from using full boost mode in the wet, which the FIA’s text says stops access to what had been up to about 350 kW of additional electrical power. To avoid confusion between figures cited in different sources, the 350 kW figure refers to the maximum super-clipping potential; an earlier and agreed package includes a race boost cap of roughly +150 kW and a cut in qualifying energy-harvesting from 8 MJ to 7 MJ. Some reports also referenced alternative wet-power numbers around 250 kW, and the published documents separate the immediate wet-condition prohibition from the wider technical limits in the regulatory package.

Operationally, the wet ban inhibits boost mode while leaving pre-programmed electrical deployment maps active, a compromise intended to smooth torque delivery but one that could still produce meaningful speed differences between cars. Straightline-mode rules were tightened, Driver Adjustable Bodywork (DAB) will be allowed only for partial activation in designated low-grip zones, and rear wings are to remain in a fixed closed configuration to preserve rear stability and reduce sudden front-drag changes. The broader package also includes an automatic MGU-K start-assist to reduce grid-start risks.

The changes follow limited wet running in Barcelona, where teams and drivers reported the new power units delivered instant torque that made cars prone to oversteer and produced unpredictable behavior on corner exit and under acceleration in the wet. Heavy rain forecasts gave urgency to the measures, with reported thunderstorm probabilities for Sunday between about 68 percent and 85 percent, and U.S. lightning safety protocols could force delays, stoppages or red-flag interruptions. Teams and drivers met with the FIA to discuss possible schedule adjustments, including an earlier race start, and organizers said contingency plans and shelter would be available inside Hard Rock Stadium and in the team garages. Drivers warned of difficult and counterintuitive wet running with the new cars, and Charles Leclerc said low visibility, divergent power-unit strategies and the need to stay flat-out could leave drivers feeling like “passengers.” Other concerns included difficulty heating tires in the wet, unproven intermediate tires, the Miami track’s poor drainage and standing water, and the risk that removing the wet boost option could expose engine performance differentials among manufacturers. Teams, officials and fans will watch both the weather and the technical implications closely throughout the Miami weekend.