Lando Norris became the first non-Mercedes driver to take a pole position in 2026, topping Sprint Qualifying in Miami to give McLaren its first pole of the season. The reigning world champion set a 1:27.869 around the Miami International Autodrome, reshaping the competitive order as Formula 1 returned from a five-week break.
Mercedes had locked out every pole across the opening three rounds, but were beaten on Friday as championship leader Kimi Antonelli took second for the team, two tenths back, while George Russell struggled and qualified only sixth.
Mercedes arrived with fewer updates than McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull, with a larger package due in Canada later this month. Russell acknowledged the shift, saying: "Pretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari made. That's pretty damn impressive," and added: "We knew they had probably closed the gap but all day they were quicker than us."
McLaren’s heavily revised MCL40 underpinned the turnaround. The reigning two-time constructors’ champions had hinted at progress at Suzuka, where Oscar Piastri finished second to Antonelli, but Miami marked a clear step. Norris, who had not finished higher than fourth in a Sprint or Grand Prix so far in his title defence, topped SQ1, recovered from an SQ2 error that left him seventh, and then delivered the only sub-88-second lap in SQ3 to secure pole. "I feel very good. I'm very happy for the team," said Norris, who took his maiden Grand Prix win in Miami two years ago.
Piastri qualified third to confirm McLaren’s resurgence. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who had led the only practice session and set the pace in SQ2, ended up fourth despite a SF-26 carrying a grid-high 11 upgrades. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton was seventh, having trailed Leclerc by around 0.3s throughout the day.
Red Bull also moved forward after significant upgrades. Max Verstappen took fifth, while rookie Isack Hadjar was 0.8s slower than his team-mate and classified ninth, sandwiched between Alpine’s Franco Colapinto in eighth and Pierre Gasly in 10th.
For the record, the top 10 starters for the Sprint are: Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Colapinto, Hadjar and Gasly.
Aston Martin were among the few not to introduce aerodynamic changes, and despite Honda updates aimed at curing power unit vibration issues, the team remained at the foot of the order. Lance Stroll failed to set a time after an early spin into the run-off, while Fernando Alonso’s 21st-fastest lap was an unrepresentative 10 seconds slower than the Cadillacs that qualified directly ahead.
The Miami Sprint is scheduled for 5pm UK time on Saturday, with Grand Prix qualifying later the same evening at 9pm.
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*Originally published on [Formula News](https://newsformula.one/article/norris-takes-miami-sprint-pole-as-mclaren-ends-mercedes-run). Visit for full coverage.*