Kimi Antonelli claimed his third consecutive Formula 1 victory of the 2026 season at the Miami Grand Prix on 4 May, holding off a persistent Lando Norris in a tense and incident-filled race at the Miami International Autodrome to extend his world championship lead to 24 points over George Russell.
Oscar Piastri completed the podium for McLaren after a dramatic late-race fade from Charles Leclerc, who spun on the final lap to drop from third to sixth, gifting Russell fourth and Max Verstappen fifth before eventually finishing behind the Dutchman.
The race, moved forward three hours from its scheduled time to avoid the threat of rain and thunderstorms that had drenched Miami on Sunday morning, began in dry conditions with most of the field on medium tyres. From pole, Antonelli suffered another poor getaway, allowing Verstappen and Leclerc to draw alongside him into Turn 1. Antonelli locked up and ran wide, handing Leclerc the lead, while Verstappen spun on the exit and dropped as far back as 10th, narrowly avoiding collecting the cars behind him. Norris and Piastri moved through to third and fourth, with Russell and Lewis Hamilton following, the latter surviving early contact with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.
Antonelli fought his way back to the front by lap 4, only for Leclerc and Norris to repass him a lap later. The race was then neutralised after just five laps following two separate incidents. Pierre Gasly was barrel-rolled into the barriers after being clipped by Liam Lawson at the Turn 17 hairpin, with both drivers retiring on the spot. Isack Hadjar, starting from the pitlane following a technical breach, also crashed out after tagging the inside wall at Turn 14, shearing his front-left suspension.
After the lap 12 restart, Norris led from Leclerc and Antonelli, with Piastri and Russell in close attendance. Verstappen, the only frontrunner to take hard tyres under the safety car, briefly emerged as the net leader when the others pitted around the halfway mark, but his advantage was short-lived. Antonelli and Norris, on fresher rubber, swiftly repassed the Dutchman, who struggled to maintain contact with the leaders as the race settled into a straight-forward one-stopper.
The second half of the race became a private duel between Antonelli and Norris. Norris appeared the quicker of the two for long spells but found it impossible to pass in Antonelli’s dirty air, with rear tyre management adding another layer of complexity. Antonelli managed his pace and his tyres expertly, surviving a downshift issue in the closing stages to hold on for a deserved victory.
In the final 10 laps, Verstappen came under sustained pressure from the chasing group of Leclerc, Piastri and Russell on worn tyres. Verstappen clung on around the outside of Leclerc at one point, but was eventually passed by both the Ferrari and Russell. Leclerc looked set to take the final podium position, only to spin on the very last lap, tapping the wall but fortunately avoiding serious damage. Piastri sailed through to third, Russell took fourth and Verstappen recovered to fifth, with a chastened Leclerc crossing the line sixth.
Hamilton finished a lonely seventh, while Colapinto took a well-deserved eighth after a strong weekend that had seen him run as high as fourth by delaying his first stop until lap 32. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon rounded out the points for an encouraging Williams double in ninth and tenth.
