Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Miami

Image source, Getty Images

McLaren's Lando Norris became the first driver to beat a Mercedes in qualifying this year with sprint pole at the Miami Grand Prix.

The world champion beat championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 0.222 seconds with the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri third fastest.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fourth, ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Mercedes' George Russell.

Lewis Hamilton was seventh in the second Ferrari, ahead of Argentine Franco Colapinto in the Alpine.

McLaren brought a major upgrade package to this race - along with most other teams, but not Mercedes.

McLaren did the same thing in Miami in 2024 and it turned Norris' season around.

Read the full report here

Charles Leclerc said the soft tyre was not great for Ferrari in SQ3, so will he be able to upset the top three of Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri from fourth on the grid when we start fresh tomorrow?

Norris is feeling comfortable with the grip levels of his updated McLaren, though, so could this be a first victory in 2026 for the reigning world champion?

We'll be back up and running for the 19-lap sprint at 16:30 BST on Saturday, with lights out at 17:00.

Main qualifying goes green 21:00.

See you tomorrow!

In the latest episode of the Chequered Flag podcast, Harry Benjamin is joined by Jennie Gow and Andrew Benson to discuss the new regulations and the growing battle within Mercedes, while we hear from Max Verstappen and Arvid Lindblad.

Have a listen above.

"Pretty surprising how big of a jump McLaren and Ferrari have made," says George Russell after qualifying in sixth for Saturday's sprint. The Mercedes driver adds his side of the garage has been struggling today, flagging the tyres overheating (a lot) in the twisty middle section of the circuit.

Max Verstappen can see the positives in Red Bull's performance after the break but says the team are "still very weak" in the high-speed first sector. "We need to work on that," adds the four-time world champion.

The upgrades McLaren have brought to the table in Miami have delivered a first blow to their rivals, so does Lando Norris feel the constructors' champions have closed the gap to frontrunners Mercedes already?

"It's tough to know, every track is different," says Norris. "We've known that this track has always been good to us but we knew that what we were bringing was hopefully going to be a good step, so it's nice that our estimations have proved correct. And the team deserve that.

"Since the first lap today I've felt comfortable and I thought, oh, I've got a bit of rear grip. Good to start the weekend with a pole."

Only the sprint polesitter gets the honour of sharing their thoughts after qualifying, so Lando Norris has the microphone all to himself.

"It was great. Perfect result and a nice way to reward the team," says the Briton.

"We've got a lot of new upgrades on the car - it's nice to feel some grip again. It's nice to reward the guys and the girls who have put a lot of work into it.

"I've always loved Miami, both on and off the track. It's a good result for us but it's still the beginning of the weekend, still a long way to go, but it's nice to kick it off by doing this."

There is a new team on pole position in 2026.

World champion Lando Norris takes his first front-row spot of the campaign and will battle off the line with new title leader Kimi Antonelli at the start of tomorrow's 19-lap race.

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen outqualifies the Mercedes of George Russell and the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton to start P5 for Red Bull. Russell was six tenths off the pace of Lando Norris and Hamilton was 0.749 seconds back on the McLaren driver.

Alpine's Franco Colapinto will start in the final points place in eighth, Isack Hadjar qualified in ninth and Pierre Gasly completed the top 10 in tenth.

Oscar Piastri makes it a one-two for McLaren as Charles Leclerc can only third on the grid for tomorrow's sprint race. Kimi Antonelli is still out on track and is the only driver who can challenge Lando Norris. Can he knock the Briton off pole position?

No! It's second for Antonelli ans he joins Norris on the front row.

Forget what I've just written, I'm an idiot. George Russell goes quickest in the Mercedes but here comes Lando Norris. The world champion is rapid in that upgraded McLaren and flies on to provisional pole with a 1:27.869!

Only two minutes to go in the sprint pole shootout and Lewis Hamilton is purple in the first sector. The seven-time world champion is way up on his ex-Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who looks to be struggling once again.

No one wants to be the first out. Less than five minutes to go... now, finally, engines are warming up. Here they come with Lewis Hamilton first out.

Q3 is under way - and it won't last long. Hold on!

11. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

12. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

13. Oliver Bearman (Haas)

14. Alex Albon (Williams)

15. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

16. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)

Liam Lawson is still suited and booted and sat in the car in the Racing Bulls garage. The New Zealander was eliminated in SQ1 but does he know something we don't?

Time is ticking away, though, so the drivers who did make it through are heading out for a final run. Carlos Sainz can't improve on his time and is out of the session along with his Williams team-mate Alex Albon.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Miami

We'll have to see how it plays out this weekend. It is very early days - it is only sprint qualifying - but right now it does look like that Mercedes' position of predominance has gone.

Reigning world champion Lando Norris has a bumpy first crack at a lap in SQ2 and ends up down in seventh place, more than eight tenths down on the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

George Russell is two places ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli in fourth, while Haas' Oliver Bearman and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad are yet to set a time.

Max Verstappen is in the queue to get out of the pit lane and is no mood to let the Alpine of Pierre Gasly slot in ahead of him, withtThe Red Bull squeezing through the smallest of gaps to keep his place in the line.

Out on track, George Russell went to the top of the timesheets briefly but now Charles Leclerc is the driver to beat, with Oscar Piastri in second and other Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton third.

Lando Norris didn't let the yellow flag for Lance Stroll's stricken Aston Martin put him off in SQ1. He dusted himself down and put down the quickest marker in SQ1, just pipping the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc to the top spot. The upgrades on the McLaren are serving their drivers well so far, as Oscar Piastri finished third fastest in that opening session.

Medium tyres again, please.

SQ2 is green.