2026 F1 Round 4, Miami Grand Prix Race: Antonelli takes third straight win and extends championship lead

The Miami Grand Prix, Round 4 of the 2026 Formula 1 season, took place at the Miami International Autodrome in the early hours of May 4, China Standard Time (UTC+8). After an eventful race in which four cars retired, Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) converted pole position into victory for the third consecutive round.

Lando Norris finished second, 3.264 seconds behind, while Oscar Piastri took the chequered flag in third, 27.092 seconds adrift—giving McLaren another double top-three finish following the Sprint.

Aston Martin-Honda recorded its first double finish of the season, with Fernando Alonso finishing 15th and Lance Stroll 17th.

The race start was brought forward by three hours from its originally scheduled time because of the weather risk. Although there was a brief shower midway through the race, the feared red-flag interruption never materialised, and the full scheduled distance of 57 laps was completed.

The victory extended Antonelli’s lead in the drivers’ championship to 20 points. He also became the first driver in history to convert pole into victory at three consecutive rounds beginning with his maiden career pole position.

Reflecting on a historic victory early in his second season, Antonelli said: “This is only the beginning. There is still a long way to go. I wouldn’t be standing here without the team giving everything to do the job properly. So I want to thank the team and my family. For now, we’ll enjoy this victory, then keep working hard.”

As for starting tyres, only Isack Hadjar (Red Bull), who had been disqualified from qualifying for a floor infringement and then required to start from the pit lane after power unit components and the control electronics unit were changed under parc fermé conditions, chose the hard compound. Every other car started on medium tyres. As expected before the race, a one-stop strategy was the predominant choice.

Ferrari once again charged off the line with a blistering start: polesitter Antonelli was slow away once more, and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) seized the lead at Turn 2.

Max Verstappen (Red Bull), starting second on the front row, initially remained firmly in the fight for the lead. But he lost control during his close battle with Leclerc, spinning at Turn 2 and dropping to tenth.

Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) also made contact with Franco Colapinto (Alpine) under braking on the opening lap, leaving him to fight on with reduced downforce.

Two crashes in quick succession on lap 6 brought out the Safety Car (SC), dramatically shaking up the race. One of the incidents occurred at Turn 17, where Pierre Gasly’s Alpine rolled over: Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) locked up under braking and struck the left-rear of Gasly’s car, causing its right-hand side to ride up onto the barrier.

Fortunately, Gasly escaped without serious injury. Lawson’s car was damaged in the collision, and he returned to the garage to retire.

During the same phase, Hadjar made a mistake entering the chicane, first hitting the inside barrier and then the outside barrier. Having started from the pit lane, his nightmare weekend ended in the worst possible fashion, with the cameras capturing him pounding the steering wheel in frustration.

As rain clouds moved closer to the circuit, George Russell (Mercedes) was the first to switch to hard tyres on lap 20. Leclerc followed him into the pits on the next lap, but a slow tyre change allowed Russell to gain the advantage.

Leclerc questioned the decision over the radio: “Why did you bring me in? When is the rain actually coming?” He also voiced his dissatisfaction by saying: “Next time you make a decision, please consult me as well.” Not only had he lost a position to Russell, but his progress was also being held up by slower traffic.

On lap 26, a brief spell of drizzle dampened the track, but there was not enough rain to warrant switching to intermediate tyres.

Norris, who had started fourth, passed Leclerc on the second lap after the Safety Car period ended and led the race for a time—but things began to go awry on lap 26.

Antonelli, running second at the time, pitted first. Norris responded on the next lap, but Antonelli edged ahead by the narrowest of margins.

Norris admitted afterwards: “We should have pitted first. Kimi did a great job. Hats off to Mercedes and Kimi; they drove a brilliant race.” “It’s certainly disappointing to miss out on victory in Miami. We had a chance to win today. But ultimately, we didn’t have the pace to overtake him, so we have to accept it. Even so, it was still a positive weekend overall.”

After its turbulent opening, the race descended into chaos once again in the closing stages.

With two laps remaining, Piastri outbraked Leclerc to take third place. Leclerc tried to fight back, only to suffer an agonising 360-degree spin at Turn 3 on the final lap.

Leclerc’s car brushed the barrier but, fortunately, he avoided retirement. However, the damaged car was “unable to negotiate right-hand corners properly” and lost pace. Russell passed him at the penultimate corner, before Verstappen took another position from him during the final acceleration towards the finish line—in just the last two laps, Leclerc fell from third to sixth.

Mechanical trouble caused Leclerc to leave the track several times on the final lap. After the race, he received a drive-through penalty, converted into a 20-second addition to his race time, which dropped him to eighth.

Verstappen’s recovery was also noteworthy. The four-time world champion made his pit stop during the Safety Car period and dropped as low as 16th. Taking on an ultra-long stint covering the remaining 51 laps, he gradually recovered positions and briefly moved into the lead on lap 29 when Piastri pitted.

He was subsequently passed by Antonelli and Norris on their fresh tyres, but was still holding a podium position with ten laps remaining. His hard tyres, however, had been used for more than 40 consecutive laps and could offer no further resistance. Leclerc took third from him in the closing stages, followed by overtaking moves from Piastri and Russell. Verstappen then passed the damaged Ferrari of Leclerc at the finish to take fifth.

Crossing the white line at the pit exit earned him a five-second post-race penalty, but Leclerc’s demotion allowed him to retain fifth place.

Hamilton finished seventh despite the downforce loss caused by his first-lap contact, moving up to sixth after Leclerc’s penalty. Colapinto brought home points for Alpine with a career-best seventh place.

Both Williams drivers scored points: Carlos Sainz finished ninth, while Alexander Albon, who passed five cars on the opening lap to make the biggest gain at the start, finished tenth.

Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) pitted for a new front wing after completing the opening lap. He later returned the car to the garage and retired during the Safety Car period because of engine overheating.

Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) received a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane and was the last of the finishers.

The tyre strategy chart follows the order at the chequered flag. Final positions after penalties are shown in the results table below.

Eighteen of the 22 cars finished. The momentum of three straight victories, a rollover and retirements, and a dramatic final-lap collapse—beneath the rain clouds, Miami added another turbulent chapter to the 2026 season.