2026 Miami Grand Prix Race Review

Linus O'Howell
3 days ago
4 min read

Antonelli Wins Again in Frantic Miami GP

An earlier start than originally planned still resulted in the same winner being crowned as Andrea Kimi Antonelli made history with his third-consecutive victory! Despite leading for a while, Lando Norris was forced to settle for second, whilst a penultimate lap overtake meant Oscar Piastri rounded out the Podium in the other McLaren!

The Biggest Talking Points

With a risk of both thunder and lightning, the decision was made to bring forward the 2026 Miami Grand Prix by 3 hours, meaning the Race started in the dry! That didn’t stop chaos from ensuing though, as both Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen locked up into Turn 1, whilst Verstappen would then go spinning around at the following corner! At Turn 11, Lewis Hamilton and Franco Colapinto would come together, an impact that would see Lewis run the rest of the Grand Prix with a damaged car, whilst Max was back in the wars, this time with Liam Lawson! However, Verstappen wasn’t done yet as he completed the first lap with close calls against both Williams drivers! The Dutchman clearly wasn’t in the mood! Anyway, Kimi Antonelli was able to overtake Charles Leclerc for first on Lap 4, only to then drop back 2 places to both the Ferrari and Lando Norris! Whilst this was going on, Isack Hadjar was furious with himself after crashing out of the Race through the “Mickey Mouse” chicane, whilst Pierre Gasly’s Alpine flipped upside down after contact with Liam Lawson! Thankfully Pierre was okay, but this was quite the impact! When the Race got back underway following a Safety Car, it was Leclerc who led from Norris and Antonelli, whilst Oscar Piastri was able to repass George Russell for P4! Lando and Kimi would then eventually clear Charles, pulling away out front, whilst Max Verstappen was making his way back through the field with more aggressive overtakes after pitting under the Safety Car!

The deciding moment in the Race then came during the pit stop phases, as Mercedes decided to play for the undercut, pitting Andrea Kimi Antonelli first! Fair play to Mercedes, because that decision got Kimi Antonelli ahead of Lando Norris and into the lead of the Miami Grand Prix! Kimi and Lando would still need to pass Max Verstappen, though, although that proved to be relatively straightforward, whilst Charles Leclerc would also pass Verstappen to move up into P3! However, the action still wasn’t over as George Russell and Max Verstappen came together at Turn 1, resulting in Russell picking up damage, whilst George would finally pass Max on the same lap as when Oscar overtook Charles for the final step on the Podium! Before that could be celebrated, though, Leclerc went spinning around, damaging his car as he limped to the line, ultimately finishing 6th after more contact with Russell’s Mercedes! Some parts of this Grand Prix genuinely felt like bumper cars! After the Race was over, Max Verstappen was handed a 5-second time penalty for crossing the pitlane exit line, although that didn’t affect his overall finishing position, whilst Charles Leclerc was handed a massive 20-second time penalty, dropping him all the way down to P8 (behind the Alpine of Franco Colapinto)!

The Standout Drives in the Race

I’ve actually given out four 10’s for the 2026 Miami Grand Prix, and the first one is obviously for Andrea Kimi Antonelli! Kimi is absolutely flying right now, he leads the Drivers’ Championship by 20 points, and this turning out to be quite the story! The second driver I’ve given out maximum points to is Lando Norris, and honestly, I don’t think Lando could’ve done anything more to win this Race; he simply lost it in the pitstops! The third driver I’ve given a Perfect 10 to is Franco Colapinto and take a bow Franco; a career-best finish of P7 is pretty damn epic, especially given the career he’s had at Alpine! I’m very impressed, but this needs to continue moving forward! And the final driver I’ve given a 10 to is Carlos Sainz, simply because finishing P9 in that Williams is an amazing achievement given how poor that car has been so far in 2026! Oscar Piastri also deserves praise for fighting his way back onto the Podium from P7, whilst Alex Albon should be delighted with his first points finish of the season!

Drivers Who Had a Shocker

I’ve given out two 1’s for yesterday’s Race, and the first one has to be for Liam Lawson! Even though he’s explained that he had a gearbox issue, at the end of the day, Liam still crashed into Pierre Gasly, taking both of them out of the GP! It sucks for Lawson as he’s been driving well, but this weekend hasn’t been good! The other driver I’ve given out the lowest possible grade to is Isack Hadjar, and this is pretty self-explanatory as he crashed on his own! Whilst it’s only one weekend, Isack will need to bounce back in Canada as I’m already starting to worry for him! Elsewhere, Valtteri Bottas was miles off the rest of the pack in last place, whilst Audi need to sort themselves out after Nico Hulkenberg retired early from the Race with more technical gremlins!