F1 Miami Grand Prix preview: McLaren and Ferrari to overtake Mercedes?

Coming into Miami, the biggest question was who could make the most of the regulation tweaks made by the FIA during the weeks off.

From Friday's running, it looks like McLaren and Ferrari are the teams to beat, catching Mercedes on the back foot after an impressive start to the 2026 campaign.

Charles Leclerc started things off by controlling the only practice session of the sprint weekend, with an extra 30 minutes added due to the changes in the regulations.

Max Verstappen came next as Red Bull's long run pace looked vastly improved, while Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton took P3 and P4, respectively, finishing clear of the Mercedes.

However, in Sprint Qualifying, it was Lando Norris and McLaren who threw down the gauntlet with a stunning lap time to show what he and his team have to offer.

Kimi Antonelli put in a strong lap to take P2 ahead of Piastri and give Mercedes some respite, but George Russell's P6 will still give the German team food for thought going into Saturday and Sunday.

Antonelli was the fastest on the hard tyres in FP1, once again showing that Mercedes' long run pace may be the best on the grid, but the rapid closing of the gap from McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull will give those teams the confidence they need to make the 2026 season a thrilling four-way battle.

To take you through the technical aspects of this weekend in Miami, it's GPblog's very own 'F1 Tech' writer, Francesco Bianchi!

The first day of action at the Miami Grand Prix offered an exciting battle among Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren, with the latter two bringing substantial updates and a “B” version of their car for the 4th round of the season.

The changes had a surprising impact on performance: the SF-26, on the one hand, showed a higher level of downforce in the high-speed corners and an overall better balance of the car. This element allowed Charles Leclerc to be extremely competitive in FP1 and during the Sprint qualifying, especially on the medium tyre, where he was making a huge difference compared to his rivals.

The scenario changed slightly in SQ3, where both Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton struggled to put the soft tyre in the right working window, improving by only a tenth compared to SQ2 on the mediums. On the other hand, McLaren showed some really surprising progress in a very similar way to what they already did in 2024.

The MCL40 improved in terms of downforce generated in the high-speed but also in the slow-speed corners, proof of a weight reduction compared to the previous races. These two aspects gave the car a better overall balance for the Miami layout: while Ferrari was very quick in the first sector and Mercedes in the third sector, McLaren managed to set very fast lap times in both sections, showing a more constant performance across different kinds of corners.

This balance, matched by the great power provided by the Mercedes PU, allowed Norris to dominate in SQ3, getting his first Sprint pole of the season. Mercedes, instead, suffered from the lack of updates and probably the high temperatures, which put a lot of stress on the rear tyres.

During both the single-hour practice session and during the Sprint qualifying, in fact, Russell and Antonelli struggled to set competitive lap times, losing time especially in the first and second sector, always seeming to be on the edge on the rear end. During SQ3, however, Antonelli managed to set a very competitive lap time and get the second place for today’s Sprint, making the difference on his teammate Russell who was down in P6.