World champion Lando Norris became the first non-Mercedes driver to claim a pole position in the 2026 season as he put McLaren's upgraded car at the front of the grid for Saturday's Sprint at the Miami Grand Prix.
As Formula 1 returned to action after five weeks off track, the Mercedes-led pecking order seen at the season's opening three rounds in March was shaken amid the introduction of an array of car upgrades among the leading teams.
And it was Norris, who has yet to finish higher than fourth in a Sprint or Grand Prix so far in his title defence, who produced the best lap at the end of Sprint Qualifying to seal his first pole of the year with the benchmark time around the Miami International Autodrome of 1:27.869.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli took second, two tenths behind the pole-claiming McLaren, with his SQ3 attempt in the lead Mercedes, but team-mate George Russell struggled throughout the session and was only sixth.
Mercedes have introduced fewer upgrades in Miami than McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull, with a bigger package of changes set to be introduced to their title-leading car at the next round in Canada later this month, but the turnaround in respective pace from the last race at Suzuka has hitherto been eye-catching.
"Pretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari made. That's pretty damn impressive," said Russell.
"We knew they had probably closed the gap but all day they were quicker than us."
Oscar Piastri took third to underline world champions McLaren's return to form, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc ending up fourth after he had topped the day's only practice session and then impressively led the way in SQ2 to suggest he was the driver to beat for pole on an SF-26 that features a grid-high 11 different upgrades.
Max Verstappen beat Russell to fifth as Red Bull also showed improved form in the wake of significant upgrades to their car, with Lewis Hamilton seventh in the second Ferrari having trailed Leclerc by around 0.3s all day.
While Red Bull moved away from the midfield positions they occupied in China and Japan with Verstappen, team-mate Isack Hadjar lapped 0.8s slower than the Dutchman and so ended up only ninth between the Alpine duo of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly.
Aston Martin were one team not to bring any aerodynamics updates to their car and, although Honda have introduced changes aimed at eradicating the vibration issues in their power unit, the team remained at the foot of the order.
Lance Stroll did not set a time after an early spin into the run-off area, while Fernando Alonso's 21st-fastest time was an unrepresentative 10 seconds slower than the Cadillacs which qualified directly ahead.
If McLaren, the reigning two-time constructors' champions, had served notice that they were slowly starting to get on top of F1's new era of regulations last time out at Suzuka when Piastri finished second to Antonelli, then the immediate performance delivered by their heavily-upgraded MCL40 in Miami appears to show they are now definitely back on the front foot.
And that description certainly appears to apply to reigning champion Norris so far in Miami.
The Briton topped SQ1 and, although an error on his SQ2 lap left him only seventh fastest in the second stage, the world champion recovered well and was the only driver to dip below the 88-second barrier on his sole flying lap of the decisive final phase.
"I feel very good. I'm very happy for the team," said Norris, who claimed his maiden Grand Prix win in Miami two years ago.
"It's always a lot of expectations. A lot of work has gone into trying to bring these upgrades and it's always just difficult to anticipate or to know what to expect coming into a new weekend.
"But since lap one, literally, turn one, everything felt better. It felt a little bit more like last year with just having some confidence in the car. And I felt like I exploited that through the whole day today.
"So, a nice start to the weekend. Probably better than we were expecting, honestly. We were expecting better of course but we didn't know in terms of quantity how it was going to be. So, a little surprise, but a pleasant one for sure."
Saturday May 2
2.55pm: F2 Sprint
4pm: Miami GP Sprint build-up
5pm: MIAMI GP SPRINT
6.30pm: Ted's Sprint Notebook
8pm: Miami GP Qualifying build-up*
9pm: MIAMI GP QUALIFYING*
11pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook*
Sunday May 3
5.25pm: F2 Feature Race
7pm: Miami GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
9pm: THE MIAMI GRAND PRIX*
11pm: Miami GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
12am: Ted's Notebook*
*Also on Your Site Main Event
Formula 1 is in Miami for a Sprint weekend as the 2026 season resumes, watch live on Your Site F1 with Sunday's Grand Prix at 9pm.
