Miami - Race

Although McLaren dominated the sprint, Mercedes returned to the front of the field in qualifying, thanks to the lap set by Kimi Antonelli. 21 out of the 22 cars lined up on the starting grid, with Isack Hadjar forced to begin the Miami Grand Prix from the pitlane following his disqualification from Saturday's last event due to a technical breach. He stood out in more ways than one, also being the only driver not to begin the race on medium tires, instead opting for a set of hards. 

The start of the 57-lap race came straight from Ferrari's dreams. After Antonelli and Max Verstappen both locked up on turn one, Charles Leclerc moved past them, quickly sliding into the lead. The Dutchman tried to retake the position but spun during the attempt. Thanks to his impressive skills, he managed to avoid touching the barriers, but the accident still sent him tumbling down the order. A few places away from the fight for the lead, Lewis Hamilton and Franco Colapinto also made contact, only adding to the already eventful first lap. Towards its end, one car, the Audi of Nico Hulkenberg, dove into the pits. 

George Russell wasn't satisfied in his position and quickly began attacking Oscar Piastri, trying to take his P4 away from him. At the same time, his teammate set his sights on the scarlet Ferrari of the current leader. The former managed to overtake his opponent on lap three, but the latter faced more issues on his way to victory. Antonelli overtook Leclerc at the end of lap 4, but the Monegasque quickly reclaimed the position, suddenly sending the Italian right into the clutches of Lando Norris, who had been sitting comfortably in P3 thus far. The McLaren had just found a way past the Mercedes when the rhythm of the race was disturbed by two accidents that took place one after another during its fifth lap. 

Isack Hadjar lost control of his car and ended up in the wall at turn 15. Soon after, as he was coming up to turn 17, Pierre Gasly tried to overtake Liam Lawson. The Racing Bulls driver was looking for a response, and the two cars made contact that sent the Alpine flying. Thankfully, Gasly was not harmed, despite spinning in the air. Still, a safety car was called in to clear the track. All three men involved in the incidents retired early. They were joined by the unlucky Hulkenberg. 

The SC provided an opportunity for a shorter stop, but out of the top contenders, Verstappen was the only one to take it. The decision led to him being 16th when racing resumed on lap 11. Soon after the cars got back to speed, Piastri overtook Russell for P4, and his teammate managed to move past the Ferrari of Leclerc. While Norris began building a gap in the front, the Monegasque had to fight first with Antonelli, who overtook him on lap 14, and then with Piastri, who couldn't quite manage to find a way past before Leclerc pitted on lap 22.

Mercedes had taken a strategic gamble, sending Russell into the pits on lap 21 in hopes of undercutting Leclerc. The strategy worked since the Ferrari driver came out behind the Brit, following a disappointingly long pitstop. The two began their slow descent up the field, following in the footsteps of Verstappen, who had moved up quite a few positions and, by lap 26, ended up ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The Brit headed to the pits soon after, alongside Antonelli and Norris, making Piastri the new race leader.

After the Australian decided to also change his tires, Verstappen moved to the very front of the race. His problem was that his tires were significantly older than those of his immediate rivals, making it incredibly hard for him to defend against their attacks. He lost the lead on lap 29 in favour of Antonelli and fell to P3 soon after, this time overtaken by Norris. Behind the three men fighting for the lead, Leclerc managed to overtake Russell, who, soon after, fell into the clutches of Piastri. The Ferrari driver, in the meantime, set his sights on the only person separating him from the podium: Verstappen.

Leclerc overtook the Dutchman on lap 47. It seemed like this would be where the story of his race ended, given that he was over 20 seconds behind Norris with virtually no chances of catching up to him. But the thing about Formula One is that nothing is settled until the checkered flag waves. With only a few laps left in the race, Piastri, who had previously managed to overtake Verstappen, began catching up to Leclerc. The two fought for a few corners, and, after the McLaren driver managed to move into a podium-scoring position, Leclerc spun, touching the wall during his attempt to save the Ferrari. Although the car was still drivable, he lost a lot of time on the final lap and crossed the finish line behind both Russell and Verstappen. To add insult to injury, after the race, he was given a 20-second penalty for continuously leaving the track during that unfortunate stint. This pushed him all the way to P8.

Meanwhile, at the front, it was Antonelli who crossed the finish line first. Despite Mercedes' early struggles, they remained the team to beat, proving that the 2026 season was still theirs to lose. 

Order of the grid:

1. Kimi Antonelli

2. Lando Norris

3. Oscar Piastri

4. George Russell

5. Max Verstappen

6. Lewis Hamilton

7. Franco Colapinto

8. Charles Leclerc

9. Carlos Sainz

10. Alex Albon

11. Oliver Bearman

12. Gabriel Bortoleto

13. Esteban Ocon

14. Arvid Lindblad

15. Fernando Alonso

16. Sergio Perez

17. Lance Stroll

18. Valtteri Bottas

DNF: Nico Hulkenberg, Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly, Isack Hadjar