2026 Miami Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying Review

Linus O'Howell
May 2
3 min read

F1 was finally back, but this time with slightly adapted regulations ahead of Sprint Qualifying for the 2026 Miami Grand Prix Sprint!

SQ1

In Sprint Qualifying 1, Esteban Ocon, Sergio Perez, Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll were the six slowest drivers! Esteban Ocon made a complete mess of Turn 1 on his final lap, meaning he finished well off his teammate's best time, whilst Sergio Perez did a pretty good job with his one and only lap! Weirdly, Alex Albon did take part in SQ2, but he really shouldn’t have as it was later revealed that he had exceeded track limits on his best SQ1 lap, meaning he was demoted down to P19, ahead of the other Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas! It was then another horror show for Aston Martin, with them locking out the back row after neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll were able to get a competitive lap time on the board! Lando Norris topped SQ1 for McLaren, with Charles Leclerc only a single hundredth back!

SQ2

In Sprint Qualifying 2, Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg, Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Arvid Lindblad, and Liam Lawson all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout! Gabriel Bortoleto was unlucky to miss out on an SQ3 appearance by just 21 thousandths of a second, whilst Nico Hulkenberg was only a further 25 thousandths back in P12! Oliver Bearman could only manage 13th for Haas, ahead of the Williams of Carlos Sainz, whilst Arvid Lindblad will start his first Sprint in Miami from P15! Then there’s Liam Lawson, who didn’t even get to compete in this session due to the mess around Alex Albon’s lap, and that’s honestly so unfair! It was Ferrari and Charles Leclerc’s turn to top SQ2, with the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri in second!

SQ3

In Sprint Qualifying 3, a mega 1:27.869 was enough for Lando Norris to return back to Sprint Pole! It’s been a bit of time since we’ve seen Lando P1, but he fully merited it here! Andrea Kimi Antonelli was still able to get his Mercedes onto the front row, denying Oscar Piastri the chance to complete a McLaren 1-2, whilst Charles Leclerc will probably be very disappointed to have only managed 4th! Max Verstappen will start 5th for Red Bull, ahead of a shocked George Russell, whilst a mistake on his one and only lap meant Lewis Hamilton’s only starting from P7! Franco Colapinto arguably put in the performance of his Alpine to qualify P8, beating out Isack Hadjar (who was a whole second off his teammate's pace), whilst Pierre Gasly rounded out the Top 10!