Norris admits to Miami 'reality check' as Verstappen hails 'incredible turnaround'

Lando Norris dominated the Sprint in Miami but could only qualify fourth after a thrilling Q3; watch the Miami Grand Prix live on Sunday with a new race start time of 6pm on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event, with build-up from 4pm

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Lando Norris has admitted McLaren suffered a "reality check" after he qualified fourth for the Miami Grand Prix.

Norris had dominated the weekend up until qualifying, having converted pole in the Sprint into victory, but McLaren's apparent pace advantage was suddenly wiped out with Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli taking pole for Sunday's race ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Antonelli was nearly four tenths quicker than Norris, who thinks McLaren's rivals had better execution in Qualifying compared to Sprint Qualifying.

"I think both cars clearly struggled a bit more than Friday and we need to understand why. At the same time, it's not like I felt we did a bad job. But other people did a bad job on Friday and today [in qualifying] they did the job they should have done," he told Sky Sports F1.

"Mercedes are just as quick as us. When you look at the GPS from Ferrari and Red Bull, there are many places they are quicker than us. So we just did a very good job yesterday and in the Sprint to win.

"But qualifying was a little reality check. But it's more where we deserved to be and where we should be honestly.

"I think we are all surprised how quick we were on Friday but I think it was more because we did a good job, others didn't, and today was a bit more the other way around. But it's not like we did a bad job, we just struggled a bit."

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Both McLaren drivers suffered minor power unit gremlin issues which hampered their performance, with Oscar Piastri only just squeaking into Q2 in 16th.

The Australian was only able to qualify seventh and confirmed his deployment problems continued in the final part of qualifying.

"It was a bit tough. It was just very variable from a lot of things - wind, track conditions, what the power unit wants to do. It was all a little bit random, so not the smoothest of sessions, especially the last lap of Q3," he said.

"I did what I thought was a good job through Turns 4-6 and then something weird happened. That's why my middle sector was so good, because I lost a whole bunch of time with a superclip when I didn't expect it and then had more energy on the back straight, so that's why that looked so good."

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Verstappen was aiming to "escape the midfield" coming into Miami after he went three races without finishing in the top five for the first time since 2017.

But, the Red Bull has immediately looked more planted in the corners and Verstappen has progressively improved to the point where he was less than two tenths from taking pole from Antonelli.

"It's an incredible turnaround for us. I really didn't feel in control of the car up until this weekend. I didn't know what would happen with it," he told Sky Sports F1.

"The team have brought a really good performance upgrade to the car - made it more driveable for me and it really clicked as soon as I jumped in the car here it felt great, or a lot better.

"For us, to be on the front row, is a bit of a surprise but we take it. It's a massive boost for the whole team and we are heading in the right direction."

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Red Bull boos Laurent Mekies ominously revealed the team "don't have everything fixed", so there could be more to come from Red Bull and the expected rain for Sunday's race will also make Verstappen a likely threat.

"They have been amazing. We left Japan and knew we had some pretty serious homework to do in terms of getting to the trye understanding of the serious limitations we had," he said.

"Max and Isack didn't have something they could push with, regardless of where the competition was related to us. There has been some amazing work, 360 degrees in Milton Keynes on the chassis side, power unit side, to get to the bottom of what was limiting us."

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Just like Sprint Qualifying, Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth but was within two tenths of Ferrari team-mate Leclerc - the closest he has been on raw pace this weekend.

Ferrari brought 11 upgrades to the car, including a new suspension and floor, but it has been power unit issues which Hamilton has been unhappy with.

"The car was much better in qualifying, so I don't think we had any power issues. That was the best that it's been this weekend," he said.

"We changed the car, and I was much, much happier with it. I wish I'd started the weekend with that balance. Q2 was looking really solid, and then when I got to Q3, I just struggled to extract the most from it."

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Asked if Ferrari's upgrades had worked, Hamilton added: "I don't know if it's leaving with more confidence. I think the team did a great job to bring upgrades. They've worked so hard, so I'm incredibly grateful for that.

"I think clearly the other teams are doing different things with their car in terms of development and so we need to look into that. But I know that we're pushing hard, I know there's more to come. And as I said, I think there's more to extract from what we currently have.

"We're still losing a bit on the straights but I think we improved a lot in this session. Before this weekend we knew that we were like four-five tenths down on the straights, so I don't know if that's the same here this weekend. But I feel like we took a step forward. It doesn't show in my result, but I'm optimistic for the race."

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Sunday May 32.25pm: F2 Feature Race4pm: Miami GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday6pm: THE MIAMI GRAND PRIX*8pm: Miami GP reaction: Chequered Flag*9pm: Ted's Notebook*

*Also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 is in Miami as the 2026 season resumes, watch live on Sky Sports F1 with Sunday's Grand Prix at 6pm. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime