Key events
There was rain a bit earlier, which doesn’t sound very Miami, but there it is. This being a street circuit there is of course a fair chance of red flags during qualifying if anyone comes a cropper on a hot lap.
Those helpful explanatory words courtesy of the official F1 website, just if anyone wanted to know how qualifying actually works. Which, I am not going to lie to you here, I did.
“Qualifying is split into three stages – Q1, Q2 and Q3 – which last 18 minutes, 15 minutes and 12 minutes respectively.
“The five slowest drivers are eliminated after Q1, before five more drop out from Q2 – thereby setting the grid positions from 20th up to 11th.
“The ten remaining drivers head into Q3 to determine the top 10 grid slots, with the fastest driver taking pole position for Sunday’s Grand Prix.”
Ollie Bearman of Haas has also been penalised for an unsafe release in the sprint. He drops from P8 to P14, so Yuki Tsunoda picks up a point.
“Quali” (ugh) is coming right up at 9pm UK time. That’s 20 minutes or so if my maths is correct. What could possibly happen?
Giles Richards
Lando Norris took advantage in a dramatic sprint race in tricky, changeable conditions at the Miami Grand Prix to claim victory from his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, with Lewis Hamilton enjoying a well-timed strategy call by his Ferrari team to take third place.
The defending world champion, Max Verstappen, had a shocker, demoted from fourth to 17th after he was penalised for an unsafe release in the pit lane by his Red Bull team. It was a blow to the Dutchman’s title defence as he dropped to 21 points behind Piastri who leads the championship. Verstappen said he was relieved no one was hurt and the Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, said it had been “human error”
What are your hopes, dreams, expectations and perhaps even fears for this qualifying session from Miami? Send your thoughts to me via email
Giles Richards
As inescapable as it is inexorable, everyone at Cadillac is aware the clock is ticking as they edge closer towards a moment of truth more than three years in the making. The expectation and anticipation for when the team, backed by General Motors, hits the grid as Formula One’s 11th entry for the first race of 2026 is ratcheting up with every passing second.
“Kimi Antonelli sprung the surprise of the season by taking pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix, the youngest F1 driver to do so. The Italian teenager, six rounds into his rookie campaign as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton, was born five years after the double world champion Fernando Alonso became the youngest F1 driver to take a pole position.”
Preamble
Pleasingly, there is an element of unpredictability in Formula One this season. Oscar Piastri unexpectedly leads the drivers’ championship for McLaren, having won three races out of five, while Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes snaffled pole position for the earlier sprint race in Miami.
The 18-year-old Italian said he was “over the moon” and “super, super happy” to secure that surprise pole, so that bit was predictable, at least. Here is Giles Richards’ report the race, that was won by Lando Norris:
The superior pace of the McLarens, driven by Norris and Piastri, may come to the fore again in qualifying as the grid is settled for tomorrow’s big race.
Qualifying starts at 9pm UK time
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