Miami GP: Lando Norris admits McLaren’s ‘reality check’ as Max Verstappen welcomes ‘amazing turnaround’ at Red Bull | F1 News

Lando Norris has admitted he had a “reality check” after his McLaren finished fourth at the Miami Grand Prix.

Norris dominated the weekend through qualifying, converting pole to victory in the sprint, but McLaren’s apparent pace advantage was suddenly evaporated when Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli took pole for Sunday’s race ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Antonelli was almost four-tenths faster than Norris, who believes his McLaren rival had a better run in Qualifying compared to Sprint Qualifying.

“I think both cars definitely struggled more than they did on Friday and we have to understand why. At the same time, I don’t think we did things wrong, but other people did things wrong on Friday and today (in qualifying) they did what they had to do,” he said. Sky Sports F1.

“Mercedes is just as fast as us. If you look at the GPS of Ferrari and Red Bull, they are faster than us. So we did very well yesterday and won the sprint as well.

“But qualifying was a bit of a reality check, but it’s more about where we should be and honestly where we should be.

“I think we were all surprised at how fast we were on Friday, but I think it was more because we played well. Others didn’t, and today it was more of the opposite. But we didn’t do a bad job, we just struggled a little bit.”

Both McLaren drivers suffered minor power unit gremlin issues that hampered their performance, with Oscar Piastri just entering Q2 in 16th place.

The Australian was only able to advance to the qualifiers in seventh place and saw his placement issues continue in the final stretch of the qualifiers.

“It was a bit tough. It was very variable depending on a lot of things – the wind, the track conditions, what the powerplant wanted. Everything was a bit random, so the session, especially the last lap of Q3, wasn’t the smoothest,” he said.

“I did what I thought was a good job for four or six turns, and then something strange happened. That’s why I liked the middle section so much, because I wasted a lot of time with an unexpected superclip and then had more energy on the back straight, and that’s why it looked so good.”

Verstappen: Red Bull’s surprising turnaround

Verstappen was aiming to ‘break out the midfield’ coming into Miami after three races without finishing in the top five for the first time since 2017.

But Red Bull immediately looked more established in the corners and Verstappen gradually improved to the point where he was less than two-tenths of the way to taking pole from Antonelli.

“It was an amazing change for us. Until this weekend we really felt like we had no control over the car. We didn’t know what was going to happen to the car,” he said. Sky Sports F1.

“The team brought some really nice performance upgrades to the car, it made it easier to drive and as soon as I got in the car here I felt really good, or a lot better.

“It’s a bit of a surprise for us to be in the front row, but we take it. It’s a huge boost for the whole team and we’re heading in the right direction.”

Red Bull boo Laurent Mekies ominously revealed that the team “doesn’t have everything fixed”, so there could be more to come from Red Bull and the rain expected for Sunday’s race will make Verstappen a threat.

“They were amazing. We left Japan and knew we had some pretty serious homework to do to understand the serious limitations we had,” he said.

“Max and Isack had nothing they could push regardless of where the competition was with us. There was incredible 360-degree work at Milton Keynes to figure out what was limiting us on the chassis side, on the powertrain side.”

HAMILTON: The car was the best all weekend in qualifying

As in sprint qualifying, Lewis Hamilton finished sixth, but two tenths off his Ferrari team-mate Leclerc, the closest he has seen to the pace this weekend.

Ferrari brought 11 upgrades to the car, including a new suspension and floor, but it was the powertrain issues that left Hamilton unsatisfied.

“I don’t think there were any power issues because the car was much better in qualifying, it was the best it was this weekend,” he said.

“We switched cars and were a lot happier. I wish we had started the weekend with that balance. Q2 looked really solid, but when we got to Q3 we were trying to squeeze out as much as we could.”

Asked whether Ferrari’s upgrades had worked, Hamilton added: “I don’t know if I could have left with more confidence. I think the team have done a great job to bring about the upgrade. They’ve worked so hard, so I’m incredibly grateful for that.

“I think it’s clear that other teams are doing different things with their cars in terms of development, so we’ll have to look into that, but I know we’re working hard and I know there’s more to come and, as I said, I think there’s more to extract from what we have at the moment.

“We’re still losing a bit on the straights, but I think we’ve improved a lot this session. Before this weekend we knew we were about four-fifths behind on the straights, so I don’t know if the same will be the case this weekend, but I feel like we’ve taken a step forward. It doesn’t show in my results, but I’m optimistic about the race.”

Sky Sports F1 Miami GP Schedule

Sunday, May 3
2:25 PM: F2 Feature Race
4 p.m.: Building up to the Miami GP: Grand Prix Sunday.
6 p.m.: Miami Grand Prix*
8pm: Miami GP Reaction: Checkered Flag*
9 PM: Ted’s Note*

*Applies to Sky Sports main event as well

Formula 1 is in Miami when the season resumes in 2026. Catch the Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 on Sunday at 6pm. Stream Sky Sports NOW – No Commitment, Cancel Anytime