2026 Miami Grand Prix Qualifying Review

Linus O'Howell
4 days ago
2 min read

After the order was switched in the Sprint, it felt like it was McLaren’s to lose heading into Qualifying for the 2026 Miami Grand Prix!

Q1

In Qualifying 1, Arvid Lindblad, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, and Gabriel Bortoleto were the six slowest drivers! Arvid Lindblad really struggled for pace in comparison to his Racing Bulls teammate, suffering a disappointing Q1 exit, whilst the two Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were separated by 2/3 of a tenth! The two Cadillacs were then up next, with Valtteri Bottas outqualifying Sergio Perez, whilst Gabriel Bortoleto will start from the back after yet more mechanical issues for Audi! Andrea Kimi Antonelli topped Q1 for Mercedes, nearly 3 tenths clear of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari!

Q2

In Qualifying 2, Nico Hulkenberg, Liam Lawson, Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon, and Alex Albon all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout! Nico Hulkenberg made sure to remain in his favourite spot of P11, whilst Liam Lawson was actually allowed to take part in Q2 today, finishing 6 hundredths off Hulkenberg’s best lap! Oliver Bearman will start ahead of Carlos Sainz on the 7th Row after outqualifying the Spaniard by 1 thousandth of a second, whilst Esteban Ocon will start from P15, ahead of the other Williams of Alex Albon! Max Verstappen managed to top Q2 for Red Bull, with Antonelli behind in second!

Q3

In Qualifying 3, a rapid 1:27.798 was enough for Andrea Kimi Antonelli to take his third-straight Grand Prix Pole! Kimi Antonelli joins Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher as the only drivers to earn their first 3 Poles in succession, and that’s quite the company for the young Italian! Max Verstappen did a fantastic job to get his Red Bull onto the Front Row, ahead of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, whilst Lando Norris could only manage 4th, despite dominating the Sprint earlier in the day! George Russell’s difficult weekend continued, qualifying just 5th overall, whilst neither Lewis Hamilton nor Oscar Piastri are going to be much happier with P6 and P7 respectively! Franco Colapinto achieved his career-best Qualifying performance with P8, beating the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar (who was miles off Verstappen), whilst Pierre Gasly once again rounded out the Top 10!