Norris on Sprint pole in Miami as McLaren upgrades deliver

McLaren’s Lando Norris will start the Miami Sprint from pole position after setting a 1:27.869 in Sprint Qualifying, leading Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli in second and teammate Oscar Piastri in third.

“A perfect result for us. A nice way to reward the team,” Norris said after securing pole.

“We have a lot of new upgrades on the car. It's nice to feel some grip again and to reward the guys and the girls that have put a lot of work into this.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took fourth, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in fifth, with Mercedes’ George Russell sixth and Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton seventh.

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was eighth, RB’s Isack Hadjar ninth, and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top ten.

While McLaren celebrated a step forward, Ferrari were left searching for more despite bringing one of the most extensive upgrade packages of the weekend. According to the FIA submission, the team introduced a series of aerodynamic developments across the car, including revisions to the front wing endplate and front corner aimed at improving flow stability and front wheel wake management, alongside a reworked floor, diffuser and rear wing package designed to increase aerodynamic load and efficiency across the operating window .

Despite those changes, Hamilton admitted the performance was not where the team expected.

“I thought we would be stronger than we were today. We have to do some work overnight to try and figure out why we're not that quick,” he said.

“I was hopeful coming in, positive that we would be much higher, but it's not meant to be.”

Norris, meanwhile, pointed to both the circuit characteristics and the effectiveness of McLaren’s upgrades as key to their advantage.

“The track is different. We know this track has always been good to us but knew what we were bringing was going to be a good step and it has,” he added.

“It's nice our estimations have proved correct and the team deserve that. Since the first lap I've felt comfortable and was like ‘I've got a bit of rear grip’.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the early signs of the upgrade package had already been clear in practice, with multiple teams introducing significant changes heading into the weekend.

“We have had some encouraging indications in practice when we saw the upgrades we brought here delivered as expected,” Stella said.

“When we saw the list of upgrades, we saw everyone had a new car, or at least 50 per cent of the pit lane.”

With the top six covered by just over six tenths and several teams bringing major updates, the Sprint race is set up for a closely fought contest, with McLaren looking to convert their one-lap pace into points while rivals continue to unlock the full potential of their new packages.