Formula One Gradebook: Miami Grand Prix
- Maham Mir
- 6 minutes ago
- 11 min read
After a five week break, Formula One returned for the first of three American races starting with the Miami Grand Prix. One of the more unique tracks on the calendar, with the circuit woven around the Hard Rock Stadium, F1’s return to Florida is always a show to look forward to.
Hosting the second sprint weekend of the season and the first race with the new refinements to the regulations, there were plenty of headlines including Kimi Antonelli’s third consecutive victory.
McLaren’s successful upgrade package as well as Pierre Gasly’s crash were also other key moments of the weekend. Here’s how all 22 drivers performed on race day:
Mercedes
Kimi Antonelli: A
It was another standout weekend for the young Italian driver as he became the first driver in F1 history to win his first three races from his first three pole positions. Additionally, he joined Damon Hill and Mika Häkkinen in taking his first three pole positions consecutively.
During sprint qualifying and the sprint itself, Antonelli had to contend with the fast McLarens ahead. Matters were made worse during the sprint after the Italian driver was given a five-second time penalty for track limits.
Despite that, Antonelli set the pace when it counted during qualifying for the Grand Prix when he qualified ahead of the pack by two-tenths. Although he had to battle the upgraded McLaren for the race win, a clever undercut strategy by the pitwall meant that Antonelli was able to take the chequered flag with ease.
With his third win, Antonelli extends his lead to Russell in the Drivers’ standings by 20 points as F1 heads to Montreal next, where the teenager took his first podium last season.
George Russell: A-
In a similar situation to how the race panned out in Suzuka before the break, Russell had no answer to his teammate’s pace and had to settle for his second non-podium finish of the season. With a fourth-place finish in the sprint and the full-length Grand Prix, the British driver was unable to make in-roads to his teammate’s growing advantage in the World Driver’s Championship standings.
After swapping onto the hard compound tyre once the threat of rain had minimised, Russell’s pace was not competitive enough to battle with the front-running McLarens and the Mercedes of his teammate. At the end of the race, Russell was able to capitalise on cars facing issues ahead of him to gain a few more crucial positions.
With the European leg of the season fast approaching, where Russell was incredibly strong and successful last season, there is hope that the British driver will be able to get his championship bid back on track soon.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc: B-
Saturday’s sprint saw Charles Leclerc lining up fourth and finishing third for the final podium position behind the McLaren duo who have become Ferrari’s closest competition.
Starting third for Sunday’s Grand Prix, there was full hope that Leclerc would be able to stay ahead of the McLarens due to Ferrari’s many new upgrades and their positive race simulation laps. Unfortunately, Sunday’s Grand Prix told a different story.
Leclerc led a Grand Prix lap for the first time since Australia, however this was one of the only silver linings of the race for the Monegasque driver. After losing out on the final podium position, Leclerc’s hit with the wall during the final stages of the race saw him tumbling down the order to cross the line in seventh.
A post-race investigation by the FIA saw the eight-time Grand Prix-winner was found to have left the track without a defendable reason and was subsequently awarded a 20-second time penalty. With the penalty applied, Leclerc dropped behind his teammate and into eighth.
Lewis Hamilton: B
It was a long and difficult weekend for the seven-time former world champion who has previously struggled around this track. Unable to match the pace of his teammate, Hamilton remained in seventh for both sprint qualifying and the sprint itself.
Qualifying one position ahead in sixth for the race, opening lap contact between himself and Franco Colapinto meant that he was carrying damage compromising the downforce on his car. Nursing his damaged car, which was losing anywhere between 10 to 15 points of downforce during the race, Hamilton was only able to cross the line in sixth but still ahead of his teammate after Leclerc’s penalty had been applied.
McLaren
Lando Norris: A
Similar to their change in fortune brought around by a timely upgrade package at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, McLaren brought seven upgrades to their 2026 car and no driver benefitted from them more than Lando Norris. The reigning world champion had his first win of the season, becoming the first non-Mercedes driver to take pole position and a race win in any format in 2026 after a lights-to-flag sprint race win.
Although the highs of sprint qualifying and the sprint were not to last as Norris was set to start in fourth for Sunday’s Grand Prix, the race demonstrated how much of a step forward Norris and McLaren were able to make with their updated car. A 3.7s pit-stop hampered the British driver’s chance of winning the Grand Prix as he was unable to match the pace of the Mercedes ahead.
Despite the potential missed opportunity, there’s no doubt that the team have certainly made a step forward towards Mercedes out in front.
Oscar Piastri: B+
Securing McLaren’s first podium last time out in Suzuka after completing his first racing laps of the season, there’s no doubt that Oscar Piastri would have arrived in Miami with cautious optimism. As the race winner in 2025, Miami is a track that the Australian driver enjoys racing at.
Lining up third for Saturday’s sprint, Piastri was able to capitalise on Antonelli’s poor start to slot himself into the runner’s up position to his teammate where he finished at the end of the 100km dash to the line. While he was successful in the sprint, Piastri could only manage to bring his McLaren into seventh for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Although Piastri struggled to match the pace of his teammate out in front, he made crucial moves as he made his way through the field. Racing wheel to wheel with Leclerc for the final podium place, the Australian driver certainly demonstrated that McLaren’s upgrades have potentially allowed them to leapfrog Ferrari in terms of performance.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen: B
Lining up for the sprint in fifth and crossing the line in the same position, it seemed as though the upgrades on the Red Bull had finally given them a boost in performance. With his first front-row start of the season ahead of the Grand Prix, Max Verstappen and Red Bull seemed further set for a decent haul of points. This was quickly derailed because of opening lap contact between the four-time former world champion and multiple other cars which saw Verstappen drop to sixteenth.
While Verstappen made quick work of making his way through the field, finding his way back into the top 10 despite the reduced pace in this year’s Red Bull challenger, a fifth place finish was the highest the Dutchman could manage. Although a five-second time penalty was later given to Verstappen because of crossing the pit entry line, it did not affect his final classification position due to Leclerc’s penalty ahead.
Isack Hadjar: DNF
Isack Hadjar seemed off the pace compared to his teammate since the moment the team arrived in Miami, struggling from the opening lap times recorded during the only practice session of the weekend. Starting and finishing ninth for the sprint, Hadjar remained marginally outside of the points and unable to add to his current tally.
Having been disqualified from qualifying for the Grand Prix due to a technical infringement, the French driver started from the pitlane. Thanks to an excellent start, Hadjar used the opening laps to make his way through the field and seemed set to make his way into the points.
However, contact with the wall at Turn 13 on Lap 6 of the race meant that Hadjar’s progress was cut short due to terminal damage to the car’s suspension. Speaking to the media after the crash, Hadjar expressed his frustration and added that he was “very disappointed to throw away points”; the French driver currently has four points in the Drivers’ Championship.
Haas
Oliver Bearman: B
Whilst Haas were one of the teams that brought plenty of upgrades to Miami, they unfortunately weren’t one of the teams who experienced a great upturn in performance. Oliver Bearman was ahead of his teammate in terms of pace on many occasions throughout the weekend, qualifying in thirteenth and finishing the sprint in twelfth.
Although he had a strong run in Q1, Bearman was unable to put together a decent time to start any higher than 12th for Sunday’s race. Although his pace was strong, he was unable to fight the pair of Williams ahead and ultimately had to settle for another points-less finish in 11th.
Esteban Ocon: B
Whilst it was another point-less sprint for Esteban Ocon in 11th, he finally managed to finish a competitive session ahead of his less-experienced teammate for the first time in a number of race weekends. He was slower than his teammate during qualifying, something he further compromised with an unfortunate touch with the wall which left him in fourteenth.
During the race, Ocon lost a majority of his time and performance during his second stint where he was overtaken by Bortoleto. It seems fair to say that the Haas team were compounded by a lack of performance and pace compared to their competitors in Miami.
Racing Bulls
Arvid Lindblad: C+
Set to start the sprint ahead of his teammate, it seemed that Lindblad had recovered from his difficult FP1 however 2026’s only rookie was unable to start the sprint altogether. Without a representative time during qualifying, Lindblad had to settle for 16th.
His pace on the medium tyres didn’t make for a great showing however after his stop, the British driver was able to make his way forward to eventually finish 14th. All in all, it was a difficult weekend but a great opportunity to learn about another track.
Liam Lawson: DNF
It was a weekend of missed opportunities for Liam Lawson as mistakes in sprint qualifying left him without a representative lap-time and out of position on the grid in 16th. During the sprint, Lawson had a difficult time but ultimately finished 14th.
In the main Grand Prix, where he found himself running in eighth, was brought to a premature end after a collision with Gasly which forced both cars to retire from the race.
Audi
Gabriel Bortoleto: B+
Gabriel Bortoleto’s performance perhaps went a little bit under the radar in Miami due to a string of unfortunate results. After being disqualified from the sprint, qualifying for the Grand Prix did not go any better as he failed to get a clean run in and had to settle for 21st.
Making decent progress throughout the race, the Brazilian driver finished in 12th. Although it was another pointless finish, there’s no doubt that the pace of the car was decent and perhaps Montreal will give the driver and team a better opportunity for points.
Nico Hülkenberg: DNF
Perhaps no one struggled in Miami the way that Nico Hülkenberg did as the German driver completed only seven racing laps across the sprint and the Grand Prix as well. After being unable to start the sprint, his Grand Prix was brought to a premature end after an opening lap incident.
As a new team producing their own engine, there’s no doubt that Audi will be dealing with unreliability issues however their great start to the season seems as though it is quickly going off-track.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly: DNF
So far in 2026, there can be no doubt that this was the hardest weekend for Alpine’s leading point-scorer. From the start of the weekend, Pierre Gasly struggled for pace compared to his teammate but managed to secure the final points scoring position of eighth.
Qualifying marginally behind the other Alpine, Gasly’s race was initially compromised after Verstappen’s incident ahead which dropped him back into traffic. As the one-time Grand Prix attempted to make his way back to the top ten, he was simply a passenger to being tagged by Lawson which brought his weekend to a premature end.
Franco Colapinto: A
With his best ever race finish of seventh, Colapinto answered all of the demands that have been made of him since he stepped into the Alpine last season. He proved himself able to battle his more experienced teammate, even when marginally beaten to points during the sprint.
During the race, things got off to a difficult start after opening lap contact with Hamilton. However, the team’s decision to go long after the rain failed to make an appearance meant that he was able to equalise his then best finish in F1. After Leclerc’s penalty had been applied, Colapinto was able to finish seventh and score a decent haul of points for his team.
Williams
Carlos Sainz: A-
The more successful of the two Williams cars in Miami, Carlos Sainz was able to bring himself back into the points for the first time since China. Although the Grove based team have struggled since the start of the season, Miami and their new upgrades have given them reason to be optimistic for the future.
Starting Sunday’s race in thirteenth, Sainz demonstrated decent pace and put himself in a great position to benefit after Gasly and Lawson retired ahead. In the end, he equalled his best F1 finish so far in 2026 by crossing the line in ninth.
Alex Albon: A-
The sprint part of the weekend was difficult for Albon after a delayed track limits violation meant he was unable to start in a decent position. During the sprint itself, the Thai driver came into the pits to change to a spare front-wing which ultimately cost him time and position.
Throughout the weekend as a whole, Albon was the slower of the two Williams cars and therefore was asked not to fight his teammate too much during the main Grand Prix. With both cars capitalising on the issues ahead, including Verstappen’s spin, they came home for their first double points finish of the season.
Cadillac
Sergio Pérez: C+
On this occasion, the Mexican driver was able to get the better of his teammate despite issues in the sole practice session and sprint qualifying as well. However, this upturn in performance did not last into the second qualifying session after a mistake by Pérez compromised his starting position.
Starting in 20th, Pérez demonstrated some pace against other backmarkers including the Aston Martins as well as benefitting from some of the retirements during the race and finished in 16th.
Valtteri Bottas: C
During the sprint-related part of the weekend, Bottas was off the pace compared to his teammate. With the American outfit bringing certain upgrades for this, the first of their three home Grands Prix, he did have a small boost in performance for the main qualifying session.
Victim to a drive-through penalty after being caught speeding during his second stop, the Finnish driver finished behind the back in 18th. Cadillac have maintained their stance that their first season in F1 must be about learning rather than focusing on points.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso: B
Issues during both qualifying sessions meant that Fernando Alonso wasn’t able to battle the Cadillacs in the way he’s been used to over the last few race weekends. During the Grand Prix, Aston Martin’s alternative strategy as they waited for rain meant that Alonso was relegated to the back of the pack where he finished in 15th.
Although not the up-turn in performance that the team would have hoped for, the fact that both cars were able to take the chequered flag for the first time this season is no doubt a cause for celebration.
Lance Stroll: C
Having failed to set a time during sprint qualifying, Lance Stroll was on the backfoot for most of the weekend. In both the sprint and the Grand Prix, Stroll was able to make a quick start, however the limitations in his car meant that he found himself quickly overtaken on both occasions.
Experimenting with a one-stop strategy on Sunday, Stroll ultimately found himself overtaken by his teammate and finished eight seconds behind Alonso. With Montreal, Stroll’s home race, coming up next, there’s no doubt that the Canadian will be hoping for further progress forward to impress in front of his home crowd.
Looking Ahead
After another break, F1 will return next in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix. Home to the infamous Wall of Champions, the circuit is a true test of driver ability and skill.
With Antonelli slowly building a steady lead at the top of the championship standings and upgrade packages bringing the front teams closer together, the battle for both championship titles is only guaranteed to get more exciting.
Edited by Meghana Sree
