Antonelli celebrates making F1 history
Antonelli celebrates making F1 history

F1 Miami LIVE: Antonelli wins grand prix, several drivers face investigations

Lap-by-lap commentary from the 2026 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix

KEY MOMENTS

  • Antonelli wins chaotic Miami Grand Prix
  • Safety car on lap six after two big crashes
  • Gasly's Alpine flips in Turn 17 tangle
  • Leclerc leads chaotic start

The fourth round of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place at the Miami Grand Prix. 

F1 returns following a five-week hiatus after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia rounds were cancelled due to the conflict in the Middle East. 

This weekend's Miami Grand Prix began with tweaks made to the power unit regulations, following meetings between F1 and its stakeholders during the month of April. 

Most of the teams used the break as an opportunity to upgrade their cars, with Red Bull and McLaren bringing the most substantial update packages. 

But it is still Mercedes who is the team to beat coming into Sunday's grand prix, after championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli topped qualifying. 

After struggling in the sprint on Saturday, Antonelli snatched pole in a tense session that saw Red Bull's Max Verstappen his nearest challenger. 

Ferrari will start third with Charles Leclerc, while sprint winner Lando Norris is fourth in the McLaren. George Russell will have to dig deep at a circuit he doesn't favour to get back on terms with his Mercedes team-mate Antonelli from fifth. 

Lewis Hamilton was unhappy with his Ferrari in sixth in qualifying, while Oscar Piastri struggled to seventh in the second of the McLarens. 

Alpine's Franco Colapinto was eighth in his second Q3 appearance in F1, while Red Bull's Isack Hadjar was due to start from ninth. However, he was disqualified from the result due to a technical infringement. It means Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) complete the top 10. 

Thunderstorm warnings forced F1 to bring forward the start time of the Miami Grand Prix to 6pm BST, though it is still set to be a wet race. 

This will be the first time the 2026 cars have raced in the wet, with most drivers yet to do any laps in the rain in these new machines. 

2026 F1 Miami Grand Prix: Sunday schedule

Race (57 laps) - 6pm BST

03 May 2026
18:53
Lap 29/57

Piastri does pit. Verstappen now leads the grand prix but he has Antonelli and Norris right behind him. 

18:52

Piastri is boxing this lap. 

18:51

Hamilton in. 

18:51
Lap 28/57

Norris comes in, Piastri leads at the start of lap 27. 

Verstappen is now through to second. 

Norris rejoins in fourth - he's lost a place to Antonelli! That's huge for Mercedes. 

18:51

Norris is being told to box. 

18:50

Bearman has pitted too. He's out in 14th. 

18:50

Norris now leads a McLaren 1-2, so Norris will probably be in this lap to cover that Antonelli stop.

18:50
Lap 27/57

Antonelli pits at the end of lap 26 for hard tyres. Verstappen gets ahead of Hamilton at Turn 17, so is now third. 

18:49

Bortoleto is told this light rain will last about five laps. 

18:49

Verstappen had a look on Hamilton's inside at Turn 11, but Hamilton has it covered. 

Those two collided there in the sprint. 

18:49

Verstappen is closing in on Hamilton for fourth. If the leaders stop soon, Verstappen will take the lead. He's 17s behind Norris right now. 

18:48
Lap 26/57

Norris' lead holds steady at around two seconds from Antonelli. 

18:48

Norris: "Quite a few spots of rain here now". 

18:47
Lap 25/57 - rain starting

There are some small spots of rain falling now! 

It's only light. Norris still leads, but is now 1.9s ahead of Antonelli. 

18:46

Russell gets a move done on Albon into Turn 11. That's him up to eighth. Leclerc follows through too. 

18:46
Lap 24/57

Norris continues to lead Antonelli on lap 24. 

Leclerc is down in 10th as he and Russell try to clear traffic. 

18:45

Leclerc asks Ferrari to "speak with me" the next time his team makes a decision. 

18:44

McLaren has warned Piastri the rain "could get heavy" in a few laps. 

18:44
Lap 23/57

Norris leads Antonelli by 2.5s from Piastri, Hamilton and Verstappen. 

It's definitely darker out there now. Nervous time for the teams. 

18:43

NFA on Verstappen/Albon. Sensible. 

18:43

Leclerc asks: "Why did we stop? When is the rain?".

18:43

The problem with those who have stopped now is if it rains heavier in the next few minutes. 

18:43

Antonelli being told "maybe light rain at Turn 7/8".

18:42

Verstappen is now fifth after those stops for Leclerc and Russell. 

18:42
Lap 22/57

Leclerc comes out in 12th on hard tyres, so drops behind Russell. That hasn't worked out well for Ferrari. Right front was slightly slow off. 

 

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