The 2026 Miami Grand Prix
Article by Finley Ever
After one long month without Formula 1, the pinnacle of motorsports is finally back! And no race other than the glamorous Miami Grand Prix seems fit to bring in a new batch of races for the 2026 season. First debuting in 2022, Miami International Autodrome is famously known for being the racing location that reigning world champion Lando Norris won his first Grand Prix at in 2024. Pair that famous win with being a hotspot for celebrities, pop up events, and ultimate party activities, Miami is surely the race to give you FOMO if you aren’t there.
happenings before the race
The day before the race, Lando Norris brought home the Sprint win. After converting his Sprint pole position from Friday into the win the following day, he became the only non-Mercedes driver to win anything in any format this year (pole positions, sprints, races, etc.).
A few hours after Lando’s win, Kimi Antonelli took pole position for the Grand Prix, followed by Max Verstappen in second and Charles Leclerc in third.
The starting grid
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- George Russell (Mercedes)
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
- Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
- Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
- Oliver Bearman (Haas)
- Carlos Sainz (Williams)
- Esteban Ocon (Haas)
- Alexander Albon (Williams)
- Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)
- Sergio Perez (Cadillac)
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)
- Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) (Pit Lane start)
Kimi Antonelli wins
Kimi Antonelli secured P1 with Lando Norris in second and Oscar Piastri in third, making Kimi the third driver in F1 history to win three consecutive races from a Pole Position start. Sparkling water on the podium for the young Italian!
A closer battle
After the month-long break, most of the teams (Of course, every team except Aston Martin) brought fresh and new cars to Miami, and it made for quite the race! The cars all seemed to be pretty equal mechanically, which really then goes to driver talent. McLaren and Ferrari (minus still idiotic strategies) managed to step up their game to try and compete with Mercedes, who are now seventy points ahead of their nearest rivals for the Constructors Championship. While Mercedes continues to dominate with 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli, both McLaren drivers on the podium with him shows us that some competition is sure to come into play from here on out.
Pierre Gasly flips out
During lap six of the race, Alpine driver Pierre Gasly collided with the wall at quite the angle. He managed to scooch himself all the way up the barrier by flipping in air. Driving in the midfield, the Frenchman slightly collided with Kiwi Liam Lawson, causing quite the dramatic flip. And this is why we all praise the inventor of the halo, for making sure these nasty wrecks aren’t followed by nasty injuries.
a number OF retirements
Pierre was not the only unfortunate driver who didn’t cross the finish line.
Liam Lawson: He retired his car later in the race after quite a few bumps and collisions, the biggest being his run-in with Pierre Gasly.
Isack Hadjar: This was not the French’s day! After being the only driver to start in the Pit Lane, he clipped the wall of the Chicane in turn 14 of the track. This broke his steering column, which sent him front wing first into the barrier.
Nico Hulkenberg: The German retired in the first few laps because of an issue with the car that required more work than the short amount of time Audi had.
Charles Leclerc devastated
After taking the lead from Kimi Antonelli in the opening lap, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc had high hopes that a win could be secured! If Ferrari didn’t win the race, that next Tuesday would mark 555 days since the number 55, Carlos Sainz, won for Ferrari. Considering that Carlos hasn’t driven for the Italian team in TWO YEARS, this was quite the pressure for Charles, and the possibility of him clinching the win was very high if it wasn’t for pit stop timing and strategies, anyone surprised? Charles Leclerc, while in the lead, was told to pit for a set of tires that would hold up in the coming rain, which never came, by the way. When Charles asked his race engineer why they pitted, they completely ignored him, causing a frustrated Charles to say, “I’m here too.”
This seems like common sense, but keep your driver informed! They’re the ones in the car out on the track risking their lives. They deserve to know why the strategists picked the route they did, especially if that strategy caused him to miss out on the top step of the podium. In the last lap of the race, the battle for third between Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc was very tight! And while there was a hope for third for Charles, he spun out in one of the final turns of the track, missing out on that third position. Now with a car slightly traumatized, both George Russell and Max Verstappen passed him in the final turn. He ended in sixth position. And as if his luck couldn’t get any worse, later in the day the FIA issued him a twenty second time penalty for going over the white line of the track multiple times, dropping him down two positions to P8. Hopefully, 2 weeks reset will be enough for him to get back into the right mindset for Canada.
franco Colapinto, p7
Despite the tragic flip turned retirement by his teammate, Franco Colapinto managed to finish the race P8, his best ever race finish in F1. But when Charles Leclerc received his 20 second time penalty, Charles took his position which bumped the Argentinian up to P7, making for an even better race finish! Flavio Briatore is surely happy with that result!
Lewis hamilton fed up?
On the opening lap of the race, Franco Colapinto and Lewis Hamilton slightly collided their cars, which messed up the downforce on Lewis’ Ferrari. On a non-televised/non-broadcasted camera from that beginning lap, Lewis was seen flipping off Franco. Look, I understand if you’re mad at an unfortunate incident such as this, but flipping off a driver who is only in his second year of Formula One for a mistake seems unprofessional. Formula One is widely recognized for its class and wealthy integrity, so let’s keep it that way! And if you have anger, swear a few times into your mic, we won’t hear it anyways because of FIA rules!
Lando Norris dissatisfied WITh 2nd place finish
Lando Norris, who held the lead of the race for a few laps, finished second. This was because of, drumroll please, Pit strategies gone wrong! Surprise surprise! Literally everyone pitted at one point in the race, and Lando, in first, stayed out, so everyone had fresher tires than he did. When he finally did pit, everyone’s tires were already warmed up and going, and since Miami isn’t a mandatory two pit stop, the drivers who already pitted weren’t required to again if they didn’t have to. This put Lando in a pickle.
While still holding onto second in the race, this failed attempt at a win still upset him. I don’t blame Lando though. He has just come off such a high with the World Championship, and Miami is like one of his home races, considering that his first ever Grand Prix win was here in 2024. Miami brings Lando high expectations, from the fans but also from himself.
While we are all still proud of his Grand Prix first podium in 2026, we need to be mindful not to call him entitled, because he has his reasons! Hopefully, he can come back even stronger in Canada, a track he has a not so pleasant history with, given that he wrecked there last year, securing Mercedes a double podium.
Max Versteppen teaches a masterclass on tire degradation
Max Verstappen, who started the race in second, spun out on the opening lap, which made him lose his position. But surprisingly, he was able to regain control of his car and not hit anyone else, even when his pirouette was in the middle of the track with heavy traffic. During a safety car in lap 6 due to his teammate, Isack Hadjar, taking a hit to his car, and Pierre Gasly doing a complete front flip in his, Red Bull decided to pit their remaining car in the race. Max then proceeded to complete 51 laps on his hard tire. Being the first driver to pit but never entering the pit lane again, he still managed fifth position.
Driver standings
Kimi Antonelli leads the WDC with 100 points. His teammate, the British George Russell, follows him in second with 80 points. Charles Leclerc, despite his devastating race, is in third with 63 points.
Take a bow, Kimi, take a bow! What a race! See you in two weeks time in Montreal!
The Formula 1 edit 
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