Lazy Thoughts on the 2026 Miami Grand Prix

Bad news if you were hoping for your favorite driver to outperform Kimi Antonelli today: the 19-year-old has not only extended his championship lead to 20 points, but also added some new records to his resumé.

Of course, that victory came after a wildly unpredictable 57 laps at the Miami Autodrome. The circuit had no business being where some of the best racing so far this season happened, and yet I was glued to my stream the entire time, despite fighting a small stomach bug.

And can you blame me? We had four lead changes before the halfway point, endless race incidents for the FIA stewards to ponder over, driver contact with the wall (and among themselves), and the ever-looming threat of Florida rain that never quite came. All while the boy from Bologna fought for the circuit’s first-ever pole-to-P1 victory.

So let’s review what exactly happened between Saturday’s sprint and today’s race. After his humbling P6-from-penalties, Antonelli jumped back to the top during qualifying for the race proper, with Max Verstappen briefly heading him in the second round before he reclaimed the fastest lap time in the third. By the end of the timer, Antonelli joined a club whose only other members are F1 royalty Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna—becoming only the third driver in history to take his first three career poles in three consecutive races.

And his response to learning that he made such a rare accomplishment? A small smile and a “very nice” before musing about how hot the Miami track can be. The kid is 19 and already unbothered by his own legacy; you have to respect him for it.

Unlike his dominant feats in Shanghai and Suzuka, Miami made Antonelli work for the top podium step. Once the lights went out, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc zoomed past him, retaining the lead for roughly the first fifth of the race (albeit with help from a safety car). Antonelli was stuck in third behind reigning champion Lando Norris, even when the safety car left the track.

Then lap 26 came. Just as I was about to close my eyes and succumb to a sickly slumber, Antonelli pitted, with Norris following suit one lap later. Verstappen took advantage of those pits (and an early pit stop on his side) to have a brief stint in the lead, only for both Antonelli and Norris to overtake him in quick succession.

From that point, Antonelli was untouchable. He crossed the line over three seconds ahead of Norris and became not just the first driver to win from pole-to-P1 at Miami, but the only driver in F1 history to convert three consecutive maiden poles into three consecutive wins. Not even Senna or Schumacher share that record, and it puts the kid in a league of his own yet again—in only his second season.

Speaking of Verstappen, the Dutchman’s race looked promising at first. He finished just behind Antonelli in qualifying, his best result so far this season (which feels weird to say about the four-time world champion, but oh well). But his car spun down to P10 once the lights went out. He then spent the first half of the race doing what he does best: biding his time to pick off the midfield drivers in front of him, one by one.

For a moment, the gamble looked like it could work, with Verstappen seemingly on the verge of getting his first win (and first podium at that) of the season. Then the Norris/Antonelli overtake happened, and the dream ended as quickly as it began. He held on to P3 for a while, maintaining hopes for a Red Bull Racing podium until his worn hard tires gave up on him. Leclerc passed him on lap 47, Piastri and Russell followed shortly after, and Verstappen was fifth by the wave of the checkered flag.

I can’t help but feel sorry for him after today’s race. The Dutchman’s weekend looked so promising after the fights he had with his car in March. His drive today was one that certainly warranted a podium, but it didn’t quite get there through no fault of his own. At least he has Driver of the Day today to make up for it.

Charles Leclerc’s race could have also gone better. After losing the lead to Norris on lap 12, the Monégasque remained steady in P3 until Ferrari seemed to remember that they are, well, Ferrari. He was called to the pits during lap 22, seemingly as a reaction to George Russell (at that point in P5) pitting. A 3.7-second stop let Russell undercut him cleanly, and Leclerc rejoined in P12, furiously telling his crew (in what will probably become a meme in the next couple of days), “The next time you make a decision, please talk to me. I am here too.”

He clawed his way back to P3 little by little, soon dedicating himself to closing the 12-second gap between him and Verstappen, which he accomplished by lap 47. A podium finish was finally within reach.

But then, Oscar Piastri passed him on the penultimate lap down the back straight, and Leclerc pushed too hard when he tried to respond. In something of a call-back to the start, Leclerc spun 360 degrees in his final lap, clipping the barrier and damaging the steering arm. He limped to the flag in sixth place (and demoted to eighth post-race following a steward investigation), behind both Russell and Verstappen. His verdict afterward was characteristically honest: “I can only blame myself.”

What a weird race this was. As I previously said, I didn’t expect the racing to return to full form at Miami, a circuit I have derided many times before.

And yet, here we are. We had a lap 1 spin from a four-time world champion. We had a Ferrari strategy call that sparked what will almost certainly become the most relatable radio message of the season. And all the while, we had a 19-year-old rewriting the record books while drinking sparkling water on the podium.

Miami had no business being this good. But it was anyway.

And now, as always, other observations I made that didn’t make it into the main piece:

That’s all for now. I’m off to eat saltine crackers and sleep off this stomach bug. I’ll see you in a few weeks for Montreal.

-F