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

Current championship leader and Mercedes’ 19-year old new star Kimi Antonelli made it three wins on the trot as Antonelli converted yet another pole position to a win to take the victory at the Miami Grand Prix 2026. Antonelli 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. Antonelli also became the first driver in Formula One history to convert his first three pole positions to wins after converting his poles in China and Japan to wins as well. Despite clashes, Safety Car, spins and other incidents, Antonelli kept a cool head to pick up his third career win on a gloomy afternoon in Miami. 

Kimi Antonelli like the last two times he started from pole, didn’t have the best start once the lights went off but he did manage to initially hold off Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris but Antonelli’s lead was a short-lived one as Leclerc was the one with the better start which saw Leclerc take the lead of the race in the second corner. Max Verstappen was another who had a stunning start, almost leading the race but he lost control at Turn 1 and dropped back to P10 after going 360° at the start, 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 at the start with George Russell picking off Oscar Piastri for P4 on 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 from the Ferrari. 

Leclerc, though, wasn’t staying away from the lead for long as he hit back and got past Antonelli heading into Turn 11 on the fifth lap as the top two continuously swapped places. Norris, behind the top two, saw an opportunistic move and got past Antonelli just before the Safety Car was deployed as Isack Hadjar was in the wall going out of Turn 17 while Pierre Gasly’s Alpine ended up the barrier as well after flipping over following contact with Liam Lawson after being hit from the back. The early Safety Car saw Verstappen come in for a stop and the Dutchman rejoined in P16. The Safety Car came in at the end of lap 11 and Leclerc got off well from Norris but it was George Russell fighting for his fifth spot as Lewis Hamilton attacked him early on the restart. 

Norris took the lead from Leclerc the following lap, going on the outside of Leclerc at turn 11 and it got from bad to worse for Leclerc as Antonelli took P2 going on the inside at Turn 17 but Leclerc managed to retake the second spot going around the outside of the Mercedes heading into Turn 1. Antonelli and Leclerc continued to battle for the second spot as the Mercedes driver took second spot from Leclerc after a cleaner overtake at Turn 11, and left no chance for a switchback for Leclerc that saw Antonelli hold on to the second spot. Verstappen meanwhile was making up places at the back as well with the Red Bull star moving up to P11 by lap 15 as he was trying to fight back through the field and he was up into the points place at P10 as he got past both Haas drivers by lap 16. While Verstappen was making up places, Leclerc was once again involved in a tight scrap up ahead, this time with Oscar Piastri as Leclerc and Piastri swapped third place a couple of times on lap 17. 

Mercedes brought in Russell on lap 21 for his first stop and while he was servicing his pitstop, Verstappen kept making up places and was up to P6 with Russell rejoining in P12. Ferrari brought in Leclerc on the following lap from P3 and he rejoined the race in P13, just behind Russell as a result of a poor stop. It was also a period where the other cars brought in their drivers for a stop as dark clouds engulfed the track with rain imminent. Verstappen, on track, 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 as well and the pole sitter joined in fifth place, behind Hamilton. Hamilton and Norris pitted on lap 28 with Norris rejoining in P4, behind Antonelli thanks to strong outlap from the Mercedes driver 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 as Piastri breezed past the hapless Mercedes to move up to P5 after pulling out 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 as the two kept on swapping places which ended with Leclerc eventually taking third place. Verstappen’s old tyres seemed to be giving up as his early pit stop was beginning to hurt the Red Bull champion with Piastri taking fourth spot 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 from Norris at the top while Leclerc managed to keep Piastri outside DRS range behind him. Verstappen’s old tyres was proving to be a big issue for the Dutchman as Russell was catching him and almost made the move stick on lap 55 on the main straight but Verstappen pulled out the old switcheroo at Turn 1 to retake fifth 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 and Piastri stole the final podium place from Leclerc at Turn 17 with Leclerc suffering a big spin and managed to carry on. Antonelli up ahead eased to his third Formula One victory with Norris finishing more than three seconds behind. Piastri made it a double podium finish for McLaren. Leclerc lost fourth place in the final corner as Russell and Verstappen got past him with Leclerc ending up in sixth place ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Franco Colapinto, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, all of whom finished in the points places. Verstappen’s fifth place would be under the cloud as the Dutchman was being investigated post race for crossing the pit exit line during the race and should he be handed a five-second penalty, he would drop to P6 behind Leclerc.

Racing will move to Canada next in three weeks’ time for the next race with Antonelli now holding a 20 point lead over Russell in the Drivers’ Championship standing.