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.