Five Takeaways: Miami Grand Prix
- Mia Wallace
- 2 hours ago
- 6 min read
Written by Mia Wallace, edited by Rohan Brown
For the first time since lights out in Suzuka over a month ago, the Formula One grid returned to action, delivering a long-awaited weekend of high-speed racing and wheel-to-wheel battles under Miami’s unforgiving sun (and storms).
The reigning world champion reclaimed sprint victory, penalties plagued the field and a young star continued his relentless charge toward the sport’s ultimate prize. Elsewhere, a four-time champ showed signs of resurgence, and the papaya duo hinted that Mercedes’ iron grip may finally be loosening.
Here are DIVEBOMB’s five key takeaways from the 2026 Miami Grand Prix.
Antonelli pulls out his next trick: a third consecutive Grand Prix victory
Despite a rocky sprint race and another humbling race start Kimi Antonelli was the ultimate winner on Sunday, charging to his third consecutive victory. After successfully disarming the leading cars, Antonelli faced and completed the tall order of maintaining the race lead with a reigning world champion in his mirrors.
With Lando Norris applying relentless pressure in pursuit of his first win since Brazil last year, the 19-year-old had his work cut out for him. A brilliant strategy call from Mercedes secured the successful undercut, putting Antonelli’s car ahead of Norris, a relief that saw him through to the chequered flag.
Sunday’s victory crucially extended Antonelli’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 20 points, the deficit growing between him and his teammate George Russell (who had a less-than-satisfactory weekend in comparison). Finishing fourth in both the sprint and the Grand Prix, Russell is simply not finding results with as much consistency and ease as his younger teammate at the moment.
In an interview post-race, Russell stated that he was glad the Miami Grand Prix was over, stating that it’s “not an enjoyable race” for him. Even still, the obvious gap between the two Mercedes drivers since China can’t be a particularly comfortable situation for Russell.
On the other side of the garage, Antonelli shared his excitement over the current standings and his recent results, but crucially emphasised the importance of not getting in too over his head.
Antonelli said: “This is just the beginning; the road is still long, but we’re working super hard, the team is doing an incredible job, and without them I wouldn’t be here – so it’s mainly thanks to them, my family.
I’m going to enjoy this one and then get back to work, because Canada is in two weeks’ time.”
With his win in Miami, Antonelli has become the first F1 driver ever to consecutively win their first three races from their first three pole positions.
Norris leads a papaya-coloured charge
After enduring a string of technical hiccups and inability to challenge the silver arrows up front, McLaren are finally showing strong indicators of a long-awaited return to form.
Norris seized an unexpected pole position Friday, holding off the storming Ferrari’s and a dominant Antonelli. The Briton was able to convert that coveted pole position to a win in the sprint race Saturday, where he led the entirety of the race.
The Briton’s sprint victory cemented him as the only driver aside from the Mercedes duo to stand on the top step of the podium this season.
On Sunday, he was able to convert a fourth place grid start to second place, with his teammate Oscar Piastri not far behind finishing third. Piastri’s good fortune in the Grand Prix was directly after a McLaren 1-2 finish in the sprint race Saturday.
Norris said following the sprint race: “A massive job for the team in bringing the upgrades
It feels like everyone’s saying the same thing but ours have really helped this weekend, so I’m happy to get it done for the team.”
McLaren was one of many teams who brought upgraded packages to Miami following the month-long break, however it seems that last year’s constructor’s champions have proven yet again how quickly they can develop their challenger.
The weekend marked the team’s strongest performance of the season so far, with Oscar Piastri noting that Miami has built optimism for the remainder of the year.
Piastri said: “I think this weekend we showed that if we get track position, we can hang onto things well
We were close in Japan, but we’ve definitely taken a step forward, and hopefully in Canada we can take another step forward again. I’m excited for the future.”
The “rise and fall” cycle of Red Bull
Over the years, Red Bull has delivered both tremendous highs and questionable lows, however this weekend in Miami keeping up with the team’s ups and downs was sure to give some fans whiplash.
On the less-than-ideal side of things, Isack Hadjar walked away from Miami without much to be happy about. Following a solid qualifying session, the Frenchman was summoned to the stewards, where he was ultimately excluded from the session for a technical infringement.
Although Hadjar was disqualified from the qualifying session, the stewards concluded that his practice times were satisfactory enough to start the race from the pit lane.
A pit lane start may not be the preferred opening position for a Grand Prix, but things only got worse for Hadjar after he found himself out of the race as a result of hitting the wall at turn 14.
On the other side of the garage, four-time champion Max Verstappen enjoyed much better results than the beginning of the season. Qualifying second for the Grand Prix, Verstappen lined up right behind Antonelli on the front row for lights out.
Although the Dutchman suffered from an untimely spin in the first lap of the race, he was able to gain back positions at a rate that only a multi-time champion could muster. Verstappen’s effort earned him a fifth place finish, his highest result of the season.
Verstappen, like his teammate, would also wind up receiving a slap on the wrist post-race from the stewards. He received a five-second penalty for crossing the pit exit line, however the gap to the car behind was large enough to not affect Verstappen’s fifth place finish.
Leclerc’s never-ending Sunday nightmare
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led the Miami Grand Prix in the early stages; a statement that may not be believable if you tuned in later on in the session. Despite leading out of turn 1, it was all downhill from there for Leclerc.
A questionably early pit stop caused frustration for the Ferrari driver, with the Monegasque sharing his displeasure over the radio where he was met with deafening silence.
Although he was able to fight his way back up the order, Leclerc was ultimately passed by Piastri in the final laps, a podium finish slipping right through his finger tips. The McLaren however, would not be the last of Leclerc's Ferrari. Following a massive spin similar to Verstappen’s early on in the session, both Russell and Verstappen would go on to pass Leclerc on the penultimate lap of the Grand Prix.
What was once a potential Grand Prix victory had become a disastrous finish for Leclerc, with things going from bad to worse after the conclusion of the session. Following a dreaded trip to the stewards, the Monegasque driver was punished for three separate events: driving a damaged car in an unsafe condition, leaving the track multiple times and gaining an advantage, and clashing with Mercedes’ Russell at the final hairpin.
The Ferrari driver would be handed a 20-second penalty, knocking him down to eighth place. Following the news, Leclerc reflected on an all-around disappointing day.
“It’s all on me,” he admitted. "I don't have much to add other than that. Very disappointed with my mistake. It shouldn't happen.”
Miami crash(and retire) gate
Aside from the drama of Turn 1, the events of the Miami Grand Prix proved unforgiving for several drivers, with a wave of incidents forcing four retirements across the field.
Early drama saw both Hadjar and Pierre Gasly eliminated following separate crashes, cutting their races short and triggering a ripple effect throughout the midfield runners.
The chaos continued after Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson was forced to bring his car into the pits after unintentionally initiating the contact that ultimately sent Gasly’s Alpine flying into the air.
Post-race, Lawson commented on the incident.
“It sucks for both of us obviously,” he explained. “I just went into the last corner and when I braked, I lost the gearbox and went into neutral. I basically had no gears and I couldn’t stop. It’s not something I’ve had before.
“Obviously it’s quite a big issue for us and it’s what meant we had to retire the car. It’s a shame because it’s obviously taken Pierre out as well.”
Meanwhile, Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg became the fourth retirement of the day, with his car continuing to suffer from technical issues that also stopped him from taking the line in the sprint race Saturday.
Looking ahead
Following the drama of Miami, another stretch of weeks lay ahead before racing resumes at the end of May. With another chunk of time between now and Montreal, will teams bring even more upgrades to the grid?
Will Antonelli’s dominant streak continue, or will the McLaren pair’s continued pressure cause a slip-up? These answers, and likely more questions, will be revealed in the next instalment of F1 when we return to Canada in a few weeks time.
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