Kimi Antonelli Holds Off Lando Norris to Win a Wild Miami Grand Prix

MIAMI. Kimi Antonelli won the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, holding off Lando Norris of McLaren by 3.264 seconds for his third straight victory. Oscar Piastri took third in the final two laps.

The Mercedes driver started from pole and became the first driver to convert his first three pole positions into wins. His championship lead grew to 20 points.

The race started three hours earlier than planned because heavy storms were forecast for later in the day.

"I didn't expect Charles to brake that early, so to avoid him I locked up," Antonelli said. "I did a little mistake with the energy management, trying to overtake Charles, then I lost a place to Lando. But then the pace was strong, I was able to stay close, and then the team did a great strategy. We did a massive undercut, and we managed to bring it home, even though it was not easy."

Chaos at the start

Antonelli went three wide into the first corner with Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing and a fast-starting Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. Antonelli locked up, and Verstappen locked up, made contact with Leclerc and spun 360 degrees. Leclerc took the lead.

Antonelli passed Leclerc on Lap 4, but Leclerc took the spot back a lap later. Isack Hadjar, who started from the pit lane, then crashed at Turn 14. Moments later, Pierre Gasly's Alpine flipped into the barriers after contact with Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls. The Safety Car came out, and Lawson and Nico Hulkenberg of Audi both retired.

The lead keeps changing

Norris took the lead from Leclerc after the restart and stretched it to 2.5 seconds. Antonelli and Leclerc swapped second place twice before Antonelli made it stick.

Antonelli pitted on Lap 27, and Norris stopped a lap later and came out just behind him. Piastri led until his stop, which left Verstappen, who had pitted under the Safety Car, in front. Antonelli passed him on Lap 29, and Norris followed him through.

Antonelli reported a possible gearbox issue on Lap 34 and later struggled with his rear tyres, and Norris closed to under a second. Antonelli held on, and Norris was told to cool off late because of a wing problem.

Leclerc's late drop

Leclerc moved into third late, but Piastri passed him in the chaotic final two laps. Leclerc then spun and tapped the wall, and George Russell and Verstappen both passed him in the closing moments. Leclerc later received a 20-second penalty for repeatedly leaving the track and fell to eighth.

That left Russell fourth and Verstappen fifth. Verstappen kept the place despite a five-second penalty for crossing the line at the pit exit. Lewis Hamilton inherited sixth, ahead of Franco Colapinto of Alpine and Leclerc. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon scored for Williams in ninth and 10th.

Ollie Bearman of Haas was 11th, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon, Arvid Lindblad, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas, who received a drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding at Cadillac's first home race.

Norris had won Saturday's Sprint (opens in a new tab) from Piastri and Leclerc. Formula 1 heads to Montreal next for the Canadian Grand Prix on May 22 to 24.

For more, see Formula 1's race report (opens in a new tab).

This was Round 4 of the 2026 season. It came after Antonelli's win at Suzuka and before Antonelli's win in Canada. For the full title picture, see our 2026 F1 standings breakdown.

Sources: Formula 1. More Formula 1 coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team via X