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Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli has won the 2026 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.
The 19-year-old Italian driver held off reigning champ Lando Norris to win his third consecutive race, which took place on Sunday, May 3, at Hard Rock Stadium, despite a worrisome weather forecast that forced the start time of the race to be moved up by three hours to avoid rain. The two McLaren drivers, Englishman Norris and Australian Oscar Piastri, rounded out the podium in second and third, respectively. Both are previous race winners in Miami.
The relatively cool, cloudy weather contrasted sharply with the intense heat of the previous day, in which Norris came away victorious in the shorter, preliminary Sprint Race — a race Antonelli won last year — followed by Piastri and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari in second and third, respectively. Antonelli finished that race just off the podium in fourth but came back to qualify in pole position for the main race, followed by Max Verstappen of Red Bull and Leclerc.
At the start of the race, the Ferrari driver managed to pass both front-row drivers, who each locked up into the first turn. Verstappen suffered further setbacks as a nudge from Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls spun him around. More incidents followed, with Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Isaak Hadjar crashing into the track wall and Pierre Gasly’s car flipping into a barrier after contact with Lawson.
After those crashes forced the field to drive behind the safety car for several laps, Norris eventually got the better of Leclerc, who would also be passed by Antonelli. Confusion over potential rain showers forced several competitors into making ill-timed pit stops, and eventually the race settled into a protracted battle between Antonelli at the top and Norris behind him. With skillful driving, the Mercedes driver held off the champ until the very end. Though the race mostly settled into a groove in its back half, a dramatic final lap battle for third saw Leclerc spinning out and finishing in sixth after being passed by Piastri, Russell, and Max Verstappen.
“It was not an easy one,” Antonelli said during a post-race press conference. “Lando was quick [and] I knew I couldn’t make any mistakes.” Norris expressed how impressed he was with Antonelli, calling his rival’s driving “incredibly strong.”
The win gives Antonelli his third consecutive win from pole position, a further good omen in his quest to become the youngest-ever Formula 1 champion, a record currently held by Sebastian Vettel, who won his first title at 23 years old in 2010. He becomes only the third driver ever to convert his first three consecutive pole positions into wins behind Damon Hill and Mika Hakkinen, both of whom did the same and went on to become champions.
Next, the Formula 1 circuit moves to Montréal for the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks’ time before opening the European summer season in Monaco on Sunday, June 7. Miami had initially been scheduled as the sixth race on the calendar before the outbreak of war in the Persian Gulf forced the postponement of races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, inducing an unusual five-week break in action. Several teams used the extra time to develop and deploy extensive upgrades to their cars for the Miami race.
2026 marks the fifth annual running of the race at Hard Rock Stadium, which launched in 2022 and sold out of tickets for the fifth straight year. The race’s promoter, South Florida Motorsports, announced on Friday that the stadium would expand its permanent Paddock Club building ahead of the next race in 2027.
