(Motorsport-Total.com) – Miami was the strongest weekend so far for McLaren in the 2026 Formula 1 season. With P2 and P3 on Sunday, they brought both cars to the podium for the first time this year, and Lando Norris even won the sprint on Saturday ahead of Oscar Piastri.
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“That we were able to achieve a one-two victory in the sprint solely due to our speed was quite a surprise for us,” admits the Australian, and teammate Norris clarifies when asked that he is quite optimistic about the future after the Miami weekend.
“I think you would feel pretty stupid if, given the enormous progress we made this weekend, you didn’t look to the future with confidence,” emphasizes the world champion.
In fact, McLaren could probably have won the race on Sunday as well if Norris had not been called into the pits too late. This allowed Mercedes to execute an undercut, Kimi Antonelli passed Norris and eventually claimed his third consecutive Grand Prix victory.
In the final phase of the race, Norris was at least able to keep up with Antonelli. At the finish, he was only 3.2 seconds behind the Italian, which corresponds to the smallest McLaren gap to Mercedes so far this season.
Miami traditionally a “McLaren track”
“We expected the upgrades [in Miami] to represent a good step forward, and that was indeed the case,” emphasizes Piastri. However, teammate Norris simultaneously warns: “In Formula 1, it is too easy to judge things based on a single race.”
Because the fact is that the Miami track has always suited McLaren. They won in Florida in 2024 and 2025, and last year even achieved a one-two finish. Mercedes, on the other hand, has never been strong in Miami, Norris notes.
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Before Antonelli’s win on Sunday, Mercedes had only ever achieved a single podium at the Miami International Autodrome. In 2025, George Russell finished third. Therefore, the good performance compared to the Silver Arrows should not be overestimated, says Norris.
Especially since Mercedes was able to win the race anyway, “and now we are coming to a track where Mercedes has probably been strongest in the last five or six years,” the world champion reminds in view of the next Grand Prix in Canada.
What speaks for Mercedes in Canada
In Montreal, Mercedes recently secured pole position twice in a row, and in 2025 Russell also won the race. “So we shouldn’t be hasty. We had a very good weekend, I am very proud of the team,” Norris emphasizes.
“But I also want to make sure they keep pushing and try to improve, because that is still necessary,” he explains, adding with a grin: “I am always the type to look at things more from the perspective of ‘The glass is half empty.'”
Therefore, one must first wait to see if the Miami form can also be confirmed on other tracks and under other conditions. Teammate Piastri also reminds that unlike McLaren and others, Mercedes did not have a major update in Miami.
“They also have an upgrade package for Canada, so we have to wait and see how much that is worth to them,” he warns. McLaren also wants to upgrade again in Montreal, but there are at least arguments that the Mercedes factory team could be a bit further ahead there again.
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