Antonelli takes Miami GP pole, Verstappen on front row
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- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) claimed pole with a 1:27.798 in Q3, finishing 0.166s clear of Verstappen and 0.3s ahead of Leclerc — his third consecutive GP pole, a streak previously matched only by Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.
- Max Verstappen put the heavily-upgraded Red Bull on the front row for the first time in 2026, calling it an "incredible turnaround" and admitting he "didn't feel in control of the car up until this weekend," with his best prior GP finish this year a sixth in Australia.
- McLaren, fresh off a Sprint one-two, dropped to fourth (Norris) and seventh (Piastri) in qualifying; Norris called it a "reality check" and conceded "other people did a bad job yesterday and today they did the job they should have done."
- George Russell qualified only fifth in the sister Mercedes, four tenths off Antonelli, whose world championship lead was trimmed to seven points by a track-limits penalty in the Sprint.
- Sunday's Miami GP was moved forward by three hours to 6pm UK time (1pm local) after officials and the FIA confirmed the change in a joint statement citing forecast heavier rainstorms later in the afternoon.
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) qualified sixth after saying he would make big set-up changes, while Red Bull's Isack Hadjar — in the upgraded car — was 0.8s off teammate Verstappen, a gap the article flags as "once more large."
Why it matters: Verstappen's first front row of 2026 — paired with his own admission that Red Bull had been unable to give him a driveable car until this weekend — suggests the upgrade package addresses a fundamental handling issue, not just a pace deficit. McLaren's qualifying drop after a Sprint one-two, combined with Antonelli extending his pole streak to three, means Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari all enter Sunday's race as genuine threats to a championship leader whose advantage over his own teammate is now just seven points.
