Summary

  • McLaren's Lando Norris takes Miami Grand Prix sprint pole

  • Antonelli second, Piastri third, Leclerc fourth

  • Verstappen fifth, Russell sixth and Hamilton seventh

  • First race since changes to new engine rules

  • Select audio icon for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3 commentary (UK only)

Send us your F1 views

Live Reporting

Lorraine McKenna

  1. Out in SQ1

    17. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

    18. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

    19. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

    20. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

    21. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

    22. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

  2. Alex Albon is trying to save himself from a SQ1 knockout and is fighting for survival with Liam Lawson. The Racing Bulls driver is heading through as it stands but Albon just sneaks in a decent time to push the New Zealander out.

  3. Charles Leclerc knocks Oscar Piastri down the order and into third place with a time just 0.010 seconds behind Lando Norris.

    Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso and the two Cadillac boys are all stuck in the bottom six.

  4. Andrew Benson
    BBC F1 correspondent in Miami

    Very, very promising early indications from the upgraded McLaren in those first runs.

  5. McLaren on top

    Oscar Piastri is in the danger zone but that won't last long for the Australian, as he crosses the line and goes second quickest. Lando Norris has gone one better and now leads the pack by more than four tenths.

    Lance Stroll's sprint qualifying is over before it's even begun. The Canadian is back in the Aston Martin garage and will watch on from the sidelines.

  6. Leclerc quickest

    Charles Leclerc seems to have found his early groove in Miami, placing his Ferrari front and centre in this SQ1 session. Kimi Antonelli and Scuderia team-mate Lewis Hamilton are just behind, with Max Verstappen in fourth for Red Bull, who have brought their own interpretation of the 'Macarena wing' to round four.

  7. Rebecca Clancy
    F1 journalist on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3 in Miami

    It's not the start to the season McLaren were looking for but I think they will be big winners from this break because they have a fantastic facility back at MTC in Woking and they have a brilliant team behind them as well. I think they'll be back in the hunt.

  8. yellow flag

    Yellow flag - Stroll stranded

    Lando Norris is purple in the first sector as the world champion goes for his flying lap early but the yellow flags are waving. It's Lance Stroll, who is stranded in the Aston Martin.

    Norris lifts off and his lap is done - just as Canadian Stroll gets going again. D'oh. The flags are cleared and the track is green.

  9. Rebecca Clancy
    F1 journalist on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3 in Miami

    This track doesn't normally lend itself to great racing but with the threat of rain, it's going to be a very interesting weekend.

  10. The medium tyres are a must in SQ1 and SQ2, before drivers switch to the C5 soft compound for the sprint pole shootout in SQ3.

    The traffic is backed up to get out of the pit lane and just as Kimi Antonelli peeps out the garage, there's Mercedes team-mate George Russell jumping out ahead of him.

  11. How does the F1 sprint work?

    Sprint qualifying has three sessions, where now the six slowest cars are knocked out from the first two - like normal qualifying.

    These sessions, known as SQ1, SQ2 and SQ3, last 12, 10 and eight minutes respectively.

    This will make up the grid for the sprint race.

    The top eight finishers score points, from eight for first place to one for eighth spot, which will get added to the overall drivers' championship standings.

    Kimi Antonelli has a nine-point buffer in the title race so whatever happens in the Miami sprint on Saturday, he'll still be at top of the drivers' championship when the main race starts on Sunday.

  12. Go! Go! Go!

    The sun is out for sprint qualifying in Miami but we could see wet conditions, or thundery weather to be precise, for Sunday's main grand prix.

    SQ1 is green.

  13. Andrew Benson
    BBC F1 correspondent in Miami

    From George Russell's point of view, he came in as championship favourite and just needs to stay calm. This is his first big championship chance. I guess he would have hoped for a slightly smoother run at the start of the season.

  14. Russell wins China sprint

    Lewis Hamilton and George RussellGetty Images

    The first of six sprint races this season took place at the Chinese Grand Prix in March when Mercedes' George Russell won an eventful sprint from pole position.

    Russell was caught up in a fight for the lead with the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton in the opening five laps, with the two drivers trading places five times. Russell eventually made an overtake stick and eased to victory ahead of the other Scuderia of Charles Leclerc, with Hamilton ending his sprint in third.

    The other point scorers in Shanghai were Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli, Oscar Piastri, Liam Lawson and Oliver Bearman.

    Antonelli's dash was full of drama, with the Italian dropping from second to eighth after a slow start and then serving a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Red Bull's Isack Hadjar on the opening lap.

  15. Help me out (because I'm not going to Goggle this), is Coconut Grove where Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman live in Meet the Fockers? Hit the thumbs below to let me know.

  16. McLaren's nostalgia show

    Some classic McLarens came out of storage and put on a show for the fans in Miami earlier this week, as the reigning champions staged a showrun event at Regatta Harbour in Coconut Grove.

    Among them were four championship-winning cars spanning the 1970s up until Lewis Hamilton's maiden title in 2008...

    Oscar Piastri drives Lewis Hamilton's championship-winning 2008 MP4-23 in Regatta Harbour in Coconut Grove in MiamiReuters

    Current McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has a go in Lewis Hamilton's championship-winning 2008 MP4-23

    Mika Hakkinen drives his championship-winning McLaren MP4/14 from 1999 in Regatta Harbour in Coconut Grove in MiamiReuters

    Mika Hakkinen drives his championship-winning McLaren MP4/14 from 1999, which brought the Finn the second of his two titles

    Bruno Senna drives the McLaren MP4/6 in which his uncle Ayrton Senna won the 1991 drivers' championship, his third and final world titleReuters

    Bruno Senna in 1991's McLaren MP4/6, in which his uncle Ayrton won his third drivers' title. Today marks the 32nd anniversary of Senna's death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, a day after Roland Ratzenberger was killed in qualifying

    Emerson Fittipaldi drives the McLaren M23 in which he won the 1974 drivers' championship and James Hunt took the 1976 titleReuters

    Emerson Fittipaldi drives the McLaren M23 in which he won the 1974 drivers' championship and James Hunt took the 1976 title

    Emerson Fittipaldi, wearing an orange race uniform, waves at fans during the McLaren showrun event at Regatta Harbour in Coconut Grove in MiamiReuters

    Brazilian Fittipaldi, 79, waves towards the fans. His 1974 title was a first for McLaren and they also won the constructors' championship that year

  17. Will qualifying return to a more flat-out challenge?

    Andrew Benson
    BBC F1 correspondent in Miami

    McLaren perform a pit stop for Oscar PiastriGetty Images

    The vast majority of the teams have introduced significant upgrades and practice was extended by 30 minutes to allow teams time to understand the implications of rule changes that have been made to the complicated engine-management rules.

    One of the main aims of the technical tweaks is to return qualifying to a more flat-out challenge for the drivers.

    The changes have been targeted at reducing what have been described as "counter-intuitive" driving techniques, such as lifting off and coasting before corners in qualifying to charge the battery.

  18. Leclerc quickest in FP1

    Charles LeclercGetty Images

    The likes of Ferrari and McLaren are packing a punch when it comes to upgrades this weekend and it was the Scuderia's Charles Leclerc who set the pace in first practice earlier on.

    Leclerc was 0.164 seconds ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, with the papaya car of Oscar Piastri finishing third on the timesheets. Piastri thought he had brushed the wall at the final corner in the closing stages of the session but the slight kiss didn't cause the Australian any harm.

    World champion Lando Norris had his lap on the soft tyre blocked by the Williams of Alex Albon so finished down in seventh spot.

    It was a tricky 90 minutes for Mercedes, who have dominated the opening three races of the season. George Russell flagged turbo issues from the start while title leader Kimi Antonelli ended his running early with no time in the softs so the team could investigate an engine problem on his car.

  19. Listen to live commentary

    BBC Sounds

    Jennie Gow, Harry Benjamin, F1 journalist Rebecca Clancy and F1 correspondent Andrew Benson are back with us and ready to take us through this sprint qualifying session.

    To tune in, click the 'listen live' tab at the top of this page, head over to Sports Extra 3 on BBC Sounds for uninterrupted commentary or ask your smart speaker to "play Sports Extra 3".

  20. Welcome back

    Lorraine McKenna
    BBC Sport Journalist

    Kimi Antonelli speaks to Pete Bonnington in the Mercedes garageGetty Images

    Hello again, folks. There are no more practice session left for teams and drivers to iron out any kinks after the five-week hiatus. So if the car isn't quite in the window after an extended 90 minutes of running, well, good luck for the rest of the weekend.

    The season picks up with back-back sprint events (Canada is hosting its first shorter race at the end of the month) and Miami is sprint number two on the 2026 calendar.

    The grid gets set on Friday, with the 100km dash, which is 19 laps of the Miami International Autodrome, taking place as the first track action on Saturday.