18:20
Verstappen goes top with a 1m29.776s.
Lando Norris, McLaren Racing, 2026 Miami F1
© XPB Images
F1 Miami reaction LIVE: Norris snatches pole in tense sprint qualifying
Live coverage of Friday at the F1 Miami Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Norris takes sprint pole for the Miami Grand Prix
- Leclerc leads SQ2
- Norris leads SQ1
- Aston, Cadillac, Audi, Williams, Racing Bulls, Haas fail to make SQ3
The 2026 Formula 1 season resumes this weekend, as the series makes its first of three visits to the United States of America, beginning with the Miami Grand Prix.
A recent addition to the calendar, the circuit around the Miami Dolphins' NFL stadium marks the fourth round of the 2026 season and the first race in five weeks.
The war in Iran forced F1 to cancel the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, meaning no racing took place in April. However, this offered the 11 teams plenty of time to work on car development.
More significantly, this weekend's Miami Grand Prix will see the debut of new engine regulations aimed at improving the qualifying spectacle, as well as safety, following the scary shunt for Ollie Bearman at the Japanese Grand Prix.
As a result, FP1 on Friday has been extended to 90 minutes to allow the teams extra time to understand the new energy deployment regulations.
But that will represent the only practice for the weekend, with sprint qualifying following later on Friday, with the sprint itself on Saturday morning and then qualifying for the main race on Sunday.
Mercedes' dominant start to the new campaign sees it come to Miami with a target on its back, as its rivals look to close the gap to the championship leader.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli also leads the drivers' standings, following back-to-back wins in China and Japan, opening up an intriguing intra-team dynamic between himself and George Russell coming into the Miami Grand Prix.
Ferrari has brought a raft of updates to its car as it looks to continue its strong start to the campaign, as well as close down the performance gap to Mercedes.
2026 Miami Grand Prix Friday schedule
FP1: 5pm BST - 6:30pm BST
Sprint qualifying: 9:30pm BST - 10:14pm BST
01 May 2026
18:19
Russell crosses the line and sets a 1m30.100, but he made a mistake at Turn 17.
18:18
Hamilton is undergoing a front suspension tweak as he's not super happy with what he has currently set-up-wise.
18:17
Verstappen is also out on soft tyres. Hadjar, Leclerc follow him.
18:17
George Russell is out on soft rubber.
18:16
Standings with 15 minutes to go:
- Leclerc
- Antonelli
- Hamilton
- Norris
- Verstappen
- Piastri
- Russell
- Gasly
- Colapinto
- Hadjar
- Hulkenberg
- Lawson
- Bearman
- Ocon
- Albon
- Sainz
- Bortoleto
- Alonso
- Stroll
- Bottas
- Lindblad
- Perez
18:15
Carlos Sainz, another Mercedes engine user, is complaining about noise from the power unit now: "There's a lot of noises coming from the turbo."
18:14
Oscar Piastri says over the McLaren team radio: "I have some smoke in the cockpit, which smells like brake smoke."
18:11
Bottas has just completed a flying lap on softs in the Cadillac, improving to a 1m33.278s. That keeps him 20th for now.
18:06
Still firmly in the race running phase for most, but with just under 25 minutes to go, we should hopefully getting some soft tyre time attacks soon.
18:01
Standings after one hour:
Standings after one hour:
- Leclerc
- Antonelli
- Hamilton
- Norris
- Verstappen
- Piastri
- Russell
- Gasly
- Colapinto
- Hadjar
- Hulkenberg
- Bearman
- Lawson
- Ocon
- Albon
- Sainz
- Bortoleto
- Alonso
- Stroll
- Bottas
- Lindblad
- Perez
17:59
Perez is another driver to get baulked by an Aston on the way into Turn 11.
17:58
Antonelli not happy with one of the Aston's earlier.
17:57
Both Red Bull drivers have been complaining about downshifts.
17:55
The Astons have been out on soft rubber. Alonso is up to 18th, Stroll 19th.
17:50
When two worlds collide...
17:48
Standings after 45 minutes:
Standings after 45 minutes:
- Leclerc
- Antonelli
- Hamilton
- Norris
- Verstappen
- Piastri
- Russell
- Colapinto
- Hadjar
- Hulkenberg
- Gasly
- Bearman
- Lawson
- Ocon
- Albon
- Sainz
- Bortoleto
- Bottas
- Lindblad
- Perez
- Stroll
- Alonso
17:44
Leclerc has just shot to the top of the timesheets with a 1m29.855s.
17:38
Nasty lock-up for Alonso into the first corner a moment ago. He's now back in the pits.
17:37
Red Bull debuts copy of Ferrari ‘Macarena’ rear wing at F1 Miami Grand Prix
Red Bull grabs attention with its own version of a unique solution originally introduced by Ferrari.
Red Bull debuts copy of Ferrari ‘Macarena’ rear wing at F1 Miami Grand Prix
Red Bull's updated RB22 features an 'upside down' rear wing
17:35
Looks like that Hamilton info was a timing screen error as he's now showing as on hard tyres again.
17:34
Hamilton is out on some soft rubber now, so let's see what that updated Ferrari can really do.
17:33
The Aston Martin pair are back out again and have logged some lap times. Alonso is the leader, 6.5s off the pace set by Antonelli right now.
17:31
Standings after 30 minutes:
Standings after 30 minutes:
- Antonelli
- Leclerc
- Norris
- Verstappen
- Hamilton
- Piastri
- Colapinto
- Russell
- Hadjar
- Gasly
- Bearman
- Lawson
- Ocon
- Albon
- Sains
- Hulkenberg
- Bortoleto
- Bottas
- Lindblad
- Perez
- Alonso
- Stroll
17:29
Ferrari's updated SF-25 is looking pretty good out there so far.