McLaren “didn’t luck into” Miami F1 sprint qualifying pole, but Mercedes warning issued

Oscar Piastri says McLaren “didn’t luck into” its Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix sprint pole, but admits “I’m still expecting Mercedes to be very strong”.

Lando Norris guided McLaren’s vastly upgraded 2026 car to pole in a tense sprint qualifying session on Friday in Miami.

It marked the first non-Mercedes works team pole of the campaign, though championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli was still second.

McLaren has enjoyed strong recent form in Miami, though played down its chances of a repeat performance this weekend coming into the round.

Oscar Piastri, who was third, believes McLaren’s speed is legitimate, but is wary of branding Mercedes as beaten heading into Saturday’s action.

“We’ll wait and see,” he said when asked if McLaren was truly in the game.

“I think the potential is there, yes.

“We didn’t luck into the result today. So, we’ll have to wait and see.

“I’m expecting Mercedes to still be very strong, but they’ve not looked quite as dominant this weekend so far.

“So, we’ll see if that stays true into tomorrow.”

Ferrari looked stronger than McLaren for much of Friday’s running in its upgraded car, but ended up with a best of fourth in sprint qualifying.

Piastri added: “The Ferrari has looked quick at points this year.

“Charles [Leclerc] looked very quick all day, so it wasn’t a massive surprise, especially with the amount of upgrades they’ve brought.

“But, I think we all expected Mercedes to still be the benchmark. So, let’s wait and see for tomorrow first.”

On his own qualifying lap, Piastri says it “didn’t feel the best”, and believes there’s more margin for him to improve.

“Reasonably happy. I think the car had great potential today, which was really nice to see,” he said.

“I think it was a bit of a surprise for us on the soft. Ferrari, and especially Charles, looked very strong all day.

“My lap in SQ3 didn’t feel the best, so to end up third is a good effort, and obviously, for Lando it’s a good result too.

“So, happy with the work the team has done, and a little bit more room to improve for myself.”