Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix - Miami International Autodrome 2026
STARTING GRID: 1) ANTONELLI 2) VERSTAPPEN 3) LECLERC 4) NORRIS 5) RUSSELL 6) HAMILTON 7) PIASTRI 8) COLAPINTO 9) GASLY 10) HULKENBERG 11) LAWSON 12) BEARMAN 13) SAINZ 14) OCON 15) ALBON 16) LINDBLAD 17) ALONSO 18) STROLL 19) BOTTAS 20) PEREZ 21) BORTOLETO 22) HADJAR
LAP 1: Into the first corner, it was neck and neck between Verstappen on the inside, Leclerc in the middle and Antonelli on the outside. The Red Bull and Mercedes both locked up with Antonelli going wide and Verstappen just about able to keep it on the track. Charles Leclerc looked to be through and into the lead into turn 2 but Verstappen tried to come back at him and spun round as a result!
It was chaos from turns 2-3 as a spinning Verstappen made a handful of drivers take avoiding action as he managed to get the car back and under control by turn 3. Even though he lost places he was still able to stay in the points places as it was hard to believe that there was no contact between any drivers amidst the chaos.
In the aftermath, Leclerc took the lead and looked to build a gap with Antonelli, the 2 McLaren’s and George Russell making up the top 5. It was a great and patient pass from Leclerc at the start to pick his moment and wait for Antonelli and Verstappen to make their mistakes and capitalise with a swift move round the outside of turn 2 to take the lead.
As the opening lap continued, there was contact between Hamilton and Colapinto as the Alpine looked to move into 6th place between turn 10 and 11. A few corners later Hamilton got past the Argentine to retake 5th place.
The action did not end there on the opening lap as Verstappen tried to go up the inside of Carlos Sainz into turn 17. As a result of being late on the brakes and diving into the corner, Verstappen compromised his exit against Albon behind. The pair were side by side going down the pit straight but the four time World Champion defended well and kept his former team mate at bay.
LAP 3: The power of the Mercedes car showed again even after an improvement during the season break to the McLaren cars. George Russell was able to pass Oscar Piastri on the pit straight as he outbraked the Aussie up the inside and moved to 4th place.
LAP 4: It took just 4 laps for the Mercedes of Antonelli to not just close the gap to overtake the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and retake the lead. The Championship leader picked up where he left off with a tidy move up the inside of turn 17 and the pace of the Mercedes down the pit straight gave Leclerc little to no chance to try and attack back.
LAP 5: However it was not as straight forward as Mercedes would have liked as Leclerc moved back past Antonelli with an almost identical move a lap later into turn 17 to retake the lead. The McLaren of Lando Norris was waiting for his moment just half a second from Antonelli as he made a move round the outside of the Italian to take 2nd place. A far from ideal few corners for the Mercedes as he dropped to the last podium place.
LAP 6: The Safety Car was deployed as replays showed the Red Bull of Isaac Hadjar clipped the wall and broke his suspension, which led to him colliding with the wall. As well as a collision between Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly resulted in the Alpine flipping over and going into the tyre barriers also. A freak accident for Gasly but thankfully both drivers reported that they were fine.
LAP 12: The race restarted and Charles Leclerc got away well as did the rest of the top 3. A different story for George Russell as he struggled on the restart and was passed into turn 2 by Piastri and looked to be briefly under pressure by Hamilton but kept 5th place.
LAP 13: Another new leader of the race came at the end of lap 13. It was another overtake on the back straight with Lando Norris getting past Leclerc to move up to 1st. Leclerc did try to look up the inside into turn 17 to try and take the place back but he was unable to find a way through.
LAP 14: Now it was Charles Leclerc’s turn to move down the podium places with a nice move from Antonelli at turn 11 to overtake the Monegasque. Another indicator that the battle at the front was far from over and any driver could quickly move up or down the order with little defence.
LAP 17: An extremely late lunge from Max Verstappen at turn 17 to try and get past Alex Albon, which did appear to work for a split second. However, he dived too deep into the corner and Albon was able to move back into 9th with hard but fair defending. Despite that, Max was not ready to give up and went up the inside with a good launch down the pit straight and he was able to make the pass up the inside of turn 1.
LAP 21: On the pit straight again was Max Verstappen as he continued to make his way through the points places to try and minimise the impact of his start to the race. This time it was Colapinto he got past to go into 6th, with minimal defense from the Alpine as he looked to continue his own race with this battle not one he would need to take unnecessary risks on.
LAP 22: An unfortunate and costly 3.7 second pit stop for Ferrari and Charles Leclerc cost them 3rd place. Despite his restart after the Safety Car, George Russell moved into the (net) podium places with Charles Leclerc dropping out for the first time in the race due to something completely out of his control.
LAP 27: A battle between the title contenders of the infamous 2021 season was brief as Verstappen swiftly went up the inside of Hamilton into turn 17. A corner and straight along with turn 1 seemed to be where most of the overtakes took place. With this move Verstappen continued to climb, this time to 4th.
LAP 28: There was a great battle between Antonelli and Norris as they battled for the lead of the race. The Italian was all over the back of the McLaren as they weaved from the corners but great driving from the pair was tense viewing with Antonelli coming out on top.
LAP 29: The lead was back with Antonelli as he went from the outside of Verstappen on the back straight to take the lead back again. A deserved lead for the Mercedes driver but Lando Norris had to wait for the following lap to make the pass in the same place to move into 2nd, despite a small fightback from Verstappen. Crucially, he still had the Mercedes insight in front of him.
LAP 31: A good on the pit straight by Charles Leclerc as he overtook Russell to try and track down the podium finish he would so badly want. The crucial pit stop showed how much it cost Leclerc as it took 9 laps for him to get back past George Russell.
LAP 36: The day got worse for George Russell as he dropped back further 6th after he was overtaken by Oscar Piastri on the back straight. It looked like a day to forget for the Brit as he needed to have a positive result to keep in reach of his team mate in the World Championship. However, with Antonelli in 1st and himself in 6th the gap was only going to continue to grow for the teenager.
LAP 47: A good fight back from Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari as he edged past Max Verstappen into the podium places once again. He swooped round the outside of turn 10 and was ahead by turn 11 in a tidy move for 3rd.
LAP 49: Despite his best efforts and trying to go long on his tyres, the end of the race was proving too much for the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. This time Oscar Piastri took the inside line into turn 17 and he moved up to 4th. The defence from the Red Bull was little but it was a terrific effort from Verstappen given the spin at turn 2 which seriously hampered his race.
LAP 56/57: On the final lap of the race, there was a gutting end to the day for the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. He was overtaken for the last podium place by Oscar Piastri and was unable to find a way back. As well as the conditions playing their part as the rain made the track slippy and led to a spin for Leclerc.
Thankfully, he did not lose places and it was almost a carbon copy of the Verstappen spin on the opening lap as he managed to get it back under control before brushing the wall lightly.
Also going into the final lap was an overtake for George Russell as he moved past Max Verstappen. A positive way to end the day for the Brit but another place lost for Verstappen as they both finished the race in 5th and 6th respectively.
There was chaos at the final corner as Leclerc was pressured by Russell and Verstappen after his spin and was overtaken by both from the last corner to the finish line. A nightmare day for the Monegasque as a later penalty then compiled the misery as he went on to finish 8th.
LAP 57: The day belonged to the Italian teenage sensation that is Kimi Antonelli. Despite a less than ideal start, from dropping down to 3rd at one point to swiftly making his way back up the order, the Mercedes was at the top step of the podium for the 3rd straight race. An amazing achievement for someone still so new to F1 but he has deserved all of the credit this season as he extends his lead at the top of the World Championship!
Just over 3 seconds behind him was Lando Norris in 2nd with a good race and back in the podium places along with his team mate Oscar Piastri as McLaren looked to improve from their start to the season which they certainly did. It will be interesting to see how the next few races go for McLaren to see how much they can continue to close the gap to Mercedes.
The 4th and 5th places went to George Russell (4th) despite a race that looked like it was running away from him it improved in the last few laps with extra valuable points possibly come the end of the season. Max Verstappen was also handed a 5-second time-penalty after he crossed the pit exit line but he kept 5th place due to the gap from himself to Lewis Hamilton.
Despite a 6th place finish for Lewis Hamilton, which was an improvement on his possible finish due to the events of the last laps, he was disappointed in the post race interviews. He called the weekend “not good at all” and that he felt like he was in “no man's land” for both races. It was not ideal but still 8 points and he outscored his team mate as a small consolation.
A great drive from Franco Colapinto in 7th as he picked up 6 valuable points for himself and his team with the penalty to Leclerc helping to improve his position but he will not be bothered by that at all. The best finish and race of the season for the Argentine as he was the only Alpine to finish the race and a positive result for the team.
The Ferrari of Charles Leclerc must have gone through all of the emotions in this Grand Prix. He started off leading the race in the first laps, then dropped down but was well in the fight for the podiums. Then a slow pit stop cost him positions and time in the middle of the race but it appeared to get better as he looked to get back to the podium places.
Only to then miss out in the final laps and spin when trying to get the place back from Piastri. He continued to drop due to the damage on his car but was then handed a 20-second time-penalty after leaving the track multiple times. Due to this he ended the race in 8th place. A hugely dissapointing day for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari.
The final points places went to the Williams drivers of Carlos Sainz (9th) and Alex Albon (10th). With a steady and measured drive from both drivers as they managed their races well and the strategy to pay off for a double points finish for the team. A good result for Williams to boost their constructors points and try to build on that momentum into the Canadian Grand Prix next time out.
RACE RESULT: 1) ANTONELLI 2) NORRIS 3) PIASTRI 4) RUSSELL 5) VERSTAPPEN 6) HAMILTON 7) COLAPINTO 8) LECLERC 9) SAINZ 10) ALBON 11) BEARMAN 12) BORTOLETO 13) OCON 14) LINDBLAD 15) ALONSO 16) PEREZ 17) STROLL 18) BOTTAS 19) HULKENBERG (DNF) 20) LAWSON 21) GASLY 22) HADJAR
