MIAMI – Formula One champion Lando Norris secured the top starting position for Saturday’s Miami Grand Prix sprint race, with Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli claiming second place and preventing McLaren from sweeping the front row.
Norris recorded the fastest lap around Hard Rock Stadium with a time of one minute and 27.869 seconds, finishing 0.222 seconds ahead of Antonelli, who had claimed sprint pole position as a teenager last season.
McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri from Australia will start in third position, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc joining him on the second row for Saturday’s sprint event.
The full Miami Grand Prix, which serves as the season’s fourth round, takes place on Sunday.
“A perfect result for us. A nice way to reward the team,” Norris commented after qualifying, having won last year’s sprint race and placed second to Piastri in the main event.
“We have a lot of new upgrades on the car. It’s nice to feel some grip again and to reward the guys and the girls that have put a lot of work into this,” he continued.
“I’ve always loved Miami on and off the track. It’s the beginning of the weekend, so still a long way to go but nice to tick things off by doing this.”
McLaren has claimed victory in the previous two Miami Grand Prix races. The event is now in its fifth year, and Mercedes – despite winning the first three races of this season – has never triumphed in Miami.
Norris becomes the first driver this season to prevent Mercedes from claiming any type of pole position, demonstrating that the team’s significant car upgrades have improved performance and provided better track grip.
Sunday’s race marks the first U.S. event of the year and the first since new engine regulations were modified to enable more aggressive qualifying sessions and enhance safety measures.
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen from Red Bull will start fifth in the 100-kilometer sprint race, which awards eight points to the winner.
Mercedes driver George Russell, currently second in the championship standings but trailing Antonelli by nine points, qualified sixth. He finished ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto at a circuit known for providing more overtaking opportunities than most tracks.
“Pretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari made. That’s pretty damn impressive,” Russell observed, having won the season opener in Australia.
“From my side, I’ve been struggling. Miami is not a track I love, especially in those hotter conditions but it’s only Sprint Qualifying, so let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top ten starting positions.
Aston Martin’s challenging season persisted as Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finished at the back of the field, once again trailing behind the newcomer Cadillac team.
