F1 2026 Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race starting grid with penalties applied

Lando Norris is set to start Saturday's Miami Grand Prix sprint race from pole position.

The reigning world champion will be the first non-Mercedes driver to even start from the front row of a race this season, after a brilliant lap on Friday afternoon in Florida.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli will start alongside Norris on the front row after rescuing a tricky session with a strong final flying lap, but his Mercedes team-mate George Russell will start all the way down in sixth.

The previously dominant Silver Arrows were comfortably off the pace of the McLarens and Ferraris throughout SQ1 and SQ2 – in fact, Antonelli's final lap was the only time that either of them was within half a second of each session's fastest time.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, however, failed to capitalise on that dominance thanks to errors on their final push laps in SQ3 and will start fourth and seventh respectively.

There was, finally, some good news for Max Verstappen too. After some real struggles in recent weeks, his Red Bull looked closer to contention – and he'll start ahead of Russell on the third row on Saturday.

Further down the grid, a rough start to the season for Williams got worse when Alex Albon had his P14 qualifying result turned into P19 late in the evening, with the stewards retroactively deleting his fastest SQ1 lap for exceeding track limits.

There was a late blow for Arvid Lindblad too, getting shunted all the way down from 15th to a pitlane start after his car was left uncovered after sprint qualifying, violating parc ferme rules. That, of course, bumped Albon back up to 18th.

Though Lance Stroll failed to set a lap time during SQ1 on Friday, the FIA have confirmed that he will be allowed to join the grid for Saturday's 100km sprint race as the Aston Martin driver had set satisfactory times in practice in Miami. After his Audi caught fire on the way to the grid, Nico Hulkenberg failed to start with his grid slot left empty.

Below is the provisional starting grid for the 2026 Miami Grand Prix sprint race.

F1 SPRINT QUALIFYING RESULTS: Ferrari fumble as McLaren snatch Miami pole

F1 Starting Grid - Miami Grand Prix sprint

*Did not start

F1 Race Times - Miami Grand Prix sprint

Lights out for the Miami Grand Prix sprint is today (Saturday, May 2, 2026), at noon local time (ET) at the Miami International Autodrome.

With the five hour difference in time zones between Florida and the UK, that means the lights will go out at 5pm (BST).

Find the race start time converted to your local time zone below:

Miami Grand Prix 2026 Session Times

Sprint Race - Saturday, May 2, 2026

How to watch the 2026 Miami Grand Prix sprint race live on TV today

Broadcast details vary depending on your location. Check below to see how to tune in for some major countries:

Where to watch: F1 2026 broadcasters by region

* - A seven-day trial of Apple TV is available for fans in the US, allowing them to watch F1 for free this weekend.

F1TV Pro also carries coverage of the sport, depending on which territory you are in.

Please note if you click on a product link on this page, we may earn a small affiliate commission.

READ MORE: Will Miami GP be cancelled? Lightning threat poses risk to F1 race

Written by

Chris Deeley - Editor

View full biography