Round 4 of the 2026 F1 season has been completed as the Miami GP race is in the books, view the full report here.
Antonelli starts on pole
For the third straight Grand Prix, Mercedes driver and championship leader Kimi Antonelli started on pole position. This time, however, he had Max Verstappen on the front row with him. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was P3 on the grid.
Having bagged a 1-2 in the Sprint, McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could only manage 4th and 7th on the grid. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were between them.
Following a post-qualifying disqualification where he had ended up P9, Isack Hadjar started from pit lane after changing power unit components.
Everyone bar car #6 started on mediums. The Frenchman opted for hards.
The 2026 F1 Miami GP race gets underway
As Antonelli and Verstappen made okay starts, Charles Leclerc got alongside both into turn 1 and got his car stopped best. On the exit, the Dutchman spun getting back on power too greedily. Antonelli was P2, with Norris, Piastri, Russell and Hamilton was the top 6 after lap 1. The seven-time World Champion looked set to be P3 but had to use the run-off to avoid Verstappen and his spinning car.
Down at turn 11, Colapinto and Hamilton had a sizable touch but continued. Meanwhile Max Verstappen got involved in massive fights with Lawson (T11) and Sainz (T17). Eventually he ended up in P8 after lap 2 despite that spin.
Audi driver Nico Hülkenberg boxed at the end of the opening tour to change his front wing.
At the start of lap 3, George Russell went down the inside of Oscar Piastri for P4. Leclerc, Antonelli, Norris, Russell, Piastri, Hamilton, Colapinto, Verstappen, Lawson and Albon was the top 10 at that point.
Yo-yo racing begins
As Kimi Antonelli made a pass into turn 17 on Charles Leclerc for the lead, the Monegasque responded a lap later on the run down to turn 11. With the Italian low on battery, Lando Norris took P2.
Safety Car for separate incidents
At turn 14, Isack Hadjar clipped the inside wall and broke his left front suspension. He had gone from P22 to P15 before that.
Then at turn 17, Liam Lawson locked up as he battled Pierre Gasly for P10 as Albon had cleared the Kiwi earlier in the lap. The Alpine flipped and touched the tyre barriers thanks to the contact from the Racing Bulls. Car #10 had left plenty of room for car #30.
Behind the Safety Car, Max Verstappen boxed for hards and rejoined in P16.
Leclerc, Norris, Antonelli, Russell, Piastri, Hamilton, Colapinto, Albon, Sainz and Bearman was the top 10 on the restart.
Green flag as the 2026 F1 Miami GP race resumes on lap 12
As Charles Leclerc made a great restart, Oscar Piastri swept around the outside of George Russell with a stunning overtake into turn 1 for 4th. A tour later, Lando Norris took the lead from Charles Leclerc with a very easy pass before turn 11.
Yo-yo racing between Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc eventually saw the Italian take 2nd place down the inside into turn 11 on lap 14.
Off camera, Carlos Sainz passed Alex Albon for 8th. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen was charging through, passing Stroll, Pérez, Bortoleto, Lindblad, the Haas and Williams drivers to be P8 by lap 17.
Despite a massive snap in turn 8 and almost ending up in the wall, Charles Leclerc got P3 back immediately from Oscar Piastri as he had more battery.
As Verstappen overtook Colapinto, Russell boxed from P5. He fell to P12 as Mercedes looked to undercut Leclerc and Piastri. It worked a treat as a 3.7s stop from Ferrari on the next tour gave Russell the spot.
Russell and Leclerc cleared the Williams and Haas cars to be P7 and P8 before Lewis Hamilton pitted.
A twist at the front
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli slowly started to close on Lando Norris. Mercedes pitted him at the end of lap 26. The undercut worked an absolute treat as the Italian got ahead on the run down to turn 4.
For a very short time, Verstappen led the Grand Prix. However, cars #12 and #1 passed him and took P1 and P2. On lap 31, Leclerc took a net P4 back from Russell with an easy pass on the main straight.
With the rain chances disappearing, everyone who had not pitted boxed for hards.
Antonelli led Norris, Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell, Piastri, Hamilton, Colapinto, Sainz and Albon on lap 34. On much fresher rubber, the Aussie took P5 away after a bit of yo-yo racing with the Mercedes a couple of laps later.
Verstappen drops off the podium
On tyres 15 and 22 laps older than the cars behind, Max Verstappen saw Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri easily overtake him on laps 47 and 49 to drop to P5.
Dramatic finish
On the penultimate lap, Oscar Piastri passed Charles Leclerc for P3. Out of turn 3 on the final tour, the Ferrari had a massive spin and clipped the wall. Limping around, he dropped to 6th as George Russell and Max Verstappen found their way by in turns 17 and the last corner respectively. Car #63 gained two massive spots in the final couple of laps following multiple attempts to clear the four-time World Champion.
Out front, Kimi Antonelli resisted the pressure from Lando Norris to take a third straight Grand Prix win. Oscar Piastri rounded out the podium.
Russell, Verstappen (seeing the stewards after the race for potentially crossing the pit exit line), Leclerc, Hamilton, Colapinto, Sainz and Albon completed the top 10 on the road.
