Lando Norris converted McLaren’s upgrade package into pole and victory in the 19-lap Miami Sprint, posting a 1:27.869 in SQ3 to take sprint pole, 0.222 seconds ahead of championship leader Kimi Antonelli. The pole was McLaren’s first of the season and the first non-Mercedes pole of 2026. Norris credited a heavily revised MCL40 and a string of upgrades with restoring grip, calling the result “a perfect way to reward the team.”

McLaren’s one-two pace carried into the Sprint, with teammate Oscar Piastri finishing second behind Norris, while Antonelli, who had qualified on the front row, lost places off the line and dropped to fourth in the race.

The weekend featured several incidents and reliability problems that reshaped running. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton tangled early, scattering debris, Nico Hülkenberg’s Audi stopped with a fire at Turn 17 and did not make the Sprint, and several drivers were eliminated or failed to post representative times in qualifying, including Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. Teams ran under a mid-season FIA energy-management refinement for the first competitive track action since the break, and McLaren said its aerodynamic and other upgrades helped it make the most of the new regulations. Mercedes faced technical trouble and opted to delay its own upgrades for Miami, with George Russell reporting unusual turbo noises and the team working on his power unit during SQ1, leaving questions about Mercedes’ race-pace recovery against an upgraded McLaren.