F1 Miami Grand Prix 2026 Recap: Kimi Antonelli eases to victory amidst eventful race in Miami

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli made it three wins on the trot as he converted yet another pole position into a win at the 2026 F1 Miami Grand Prix.

The 19-year-old kept defending world champion Lando Norris at bay to take the win, while Oscar Piastri stole third place from Charles Leclerc on the very final lap to hand McLaren a double podium finish.

With his win, Mercedes’ young starlet also became the first driver in Formula One history to convert his first three poles into wins, having done so in China and Japan before coming to Miami.

Despite clashes, Safety Cars, spins, and other incidents, Antonelli kept a cool head to pick up his third career win on a gloomy afternoon in Miami.

Antonelli, like the last two times, started from pole. He didn’t have the best of starts as the lights went off, but he did manage to initially hold off Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.

Antonelli’s initial lead was short-lived as Leclerc had a better start, which saw the Monégasque take the lead at the second corner. Max Verstappen was another who had a stunning start and almost led the race before losing control at Turn 1 and dropping back to P10 after going 360 degrees at the start and suffering contact with multiple cars.

Verstappen kept fighting back, though, and was up to P8 by the second lap, while Leclerc led from Antonelli and Norris, with George Russell picking off Oscar Piastri for P4 the following lap.

Antonelli retook the lead of the race on Lap 4, going on the inside of Leclerc at Turn 17, and immediately began pulling away. Leclerc didn’t stay away from the lead for long, though, and got past Antonelli heading into Turn 11 on the fifth lap, with the top two continuously swapping places.

Behind the top two, Norris saw an opportunity and got past Antonelli just before the Safety Car was deployed when Isack Hadjar went into the wall coming out of Turn 17, while Pierre Gasly ended up in the barrier as well after flipping over following contact with Liam Lawson.

The early Safety Car saw Verstappen come in for a stop and rejoin in P16. The Safety Car came in at the end of Lap 11 and Leclerc got off well from Norris, with George Russell fighting for fifth spot as Lewis Hamilton attacked him early on the restart.

Norris took the lead from Leclerc the following lap, going on his outside at Turn 11. It got from bad to worse for Leclerc as Antonelli took P2 by going on the inside at Turn 17, but Leclerc managed to retake the second spot by going around him heading into Turn 1. Antonelli and Leclerc continued to battle for the second spot; the former took P2 from Leclerc after a clean overtake at Turn 11, leaving no chance for a switchback.

Verstappen, meanwhile, was making up places at the back. By Lap 15, he was up to P11, trying to fight back through the field. He moved into the points places as he got past the two Haas cars by Lap 16.

While Verstappen was making up places, Leclerc was once again involved in a tight scrap up ahead, this time with Piastri as they exchanged places for the third spot a couple of times on Lap 17.

Mercedes brought in Russell on Lap 21 for his first stop, and while he was in the pits Verstappen kept making up places; he was up to P6 when Russell rejoined in P12. Ferrari brought in Leclerc the following lap from P3, and he rejoined in P13, just behind Russell due to a poor stop. This was also a period that saw other drivers opt for a stop, as dark clouds engulfed the track.

In the meantime, Verstappen kept pressuring ahead and went on the inside of Lewis Hamilton at Turn 17 on Lap 27 to move into third place, with Antonelli pitting the same lap. The pole-sitter rejoined in fifth place, behind Hamilton.

Hamilton and Norris pitted on Lap 28, with Norris rejoining in P4 behind Antonelli thanks to a strong out lap from the teenager, while Hamilton came out in P9.

Leclerc made a place up on Lap 30, getting past Russell to go fifth, while Norris also got Verstappen on fresher tyres to move to P2. Russell was unable to keep Piastri at bay either, who breezed past the hapless Mercedes driver to move up to P5 after pulling off a comfortable overtake on the main straight. Russell hit back at the end of the lap, at Turn 11, to retake fifth place, but it wasn’t for too long as the places swapped again, with Piastri making the move at Turn 17.

Antonelli kept Norris at bay as the race entered its final 15 laps, with Leclerc catching Verstappen for the final podium place as well. Leclerc finally got Verstappen for third place on Lap 47 at Turn 1, but Verstappen hit back instantly to retake third place. The two kept swapping places, but Leclerc eventually took third place. Verstappen’s old tyres seemed to be giving up, and his early pit stop was beginning to hurt him. Piastri took P4 from him at Turn 17 on Lap 49, going on the inside of the Dutchman.

As the race entered its final five laps, Antonelli had a lead of over two seconds over Norris at the top, while Leclerc kept Piastri outside DRS range behind him. Verstappen’s old tyres were proving to be a big issue, as Russell was catching him and almost made the move stick on Lap 55 on the main straight, only for Verstappen to pull out the old switcheroo at Turn 1 to retake P5, with Russell damaging his front wing by driving into Verstappen’s rear tyre.

Up ahead, Leclerc was being pushed by Piastri on the final lap. The Australian stole the final podium place from him at Turn 17; Leclerc suffered a big spin but managed to carry on.

In the end, Antonelli eased to his third Formula One victory, with Norris finishing more than three seconds behind him. Piastri made it a double podium finish for McLaren. Leclerc lost fourth place in the final corner as Russell and Verstappen got past him, ending up in sixth place ahead of Hamilton, Franco Colapinto, Carlos Sainz, and Alex Albon, who rounded out the points places.

Verstappen’s P5 is in doubt as he was being investigated after the race for crossing the pit exit line during the race. Should he be handed a five-second penalty, he would drop to P6 behind Leclerc.

Racing will move to Canada in three weeks’ time for the next race, with Kimi Antonelli now holding a 20-point lead over George Russell in the Drivers’ standings.