Lando Norris takes pole for the F1 Sprint at the Miami GP

Following an extended — and unexpected — layoff Formula 1 is back this weekend with the Miami Grand Prix.

First up on the docket? An elongated 90-minute FP1 followed by qualifying for Saturday’s F1 Sprint race in Miami.

Nearly every team used the extended layoff, due to the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, to bring some upgrades to South Beach. The teams put those upgrades through the paces during Friday’s 90-minute practice session, looking to unlock additional performance ahead of the first competitive session since the Japanese Grand Prix.

We’ll be following along live during qualifying for the F1 Sprint Race, which gets underway at 4:30 p.m. Eastern on Friday afternoon. So check back early and often!

Miami GP: Sprint qualifying results

Here is the provisional starting grid, which will be filled in during the qualifying session:

How F1 Sprint qualifying unfolded

F1 Sprint qualifying is just moments away, and we will be covering every single moment. So follow along!

Note: All updates are in Eastern time.

SQ3

5:15: Piastri slides into P2. Can Antonelli answer?

Antonelli goes purple through the second sector, and slots into second, splitting the McLarens.

For the first time this season, at the end of a competitive session it is not a Mercedes in P1. Norris takes pole position.

5:14: Verstappen goes into P3.

5:14: Norris is on provisional pole, with Piastri, Verstappen, and Antonelli left to challenge him.

5:13: Norris is purple through the first sector, and then purple through the second.

5:12: Antonelli is the last car to take to the track, which speaks volumes about where Mercedes believes they are at the moment. The Silver Arrows want every bit of track evolution, and Antonelli will be the last driver to take the checkered flag.

5:10: Finally pit lane roars to life.

5:09: You have not missed anything. The clock just hit five minutes remaining in the session and we have yet to see a car leave the garage.

5:07: SQ3 is underway, but the track is silent. It looks as if we will see a one-lap shootout here in the final eight minutes.

5:05: Ruth Buscombe on F1TV notes that some teams are using a double-cooldown strategy, not to recharge the battery as we have seen in previous sessions this year, but to cool the tires.

5:04: C5 soft tires are getting bolted on down at pit lane, and we will see who has the best pace on the softs, and who will secure pole position, in just a few minutes.

5:02: Leclerc, Piastri, Hamilton, Russell, Verstappen, Antonelli, Norris, Colapinto, Hadjar, and Gasly are the ten drivers through to SQ3.

That is how they finished in SQ2.

SQ2

5:02: Bortoleto, Hülkenberg, Bearman, Albon, Sainz, and Lindblad are the six drivers eliminated.

5:01: Both Audis have been eliminated as well, as Bortoleto and Hülkenberg are out. Drivers are struggling to improve on their times here at the end of SQ2.

5:00: Two drivers have already been eliminated, Sainz and Bearman.

4:58: The clock is about to hit zero and the final laps of SQ2 are underway.

4:57: Editorial comment: As they often do in Miami, VCARB cooked with this yellow paint scheme. Last year’s pink was nice as well, but this is tremendous.

4:56: With under three minutes remaining, the six drivers in the elimination zone are: Bortoleto, Hülkenberg, Albon, Sainz, and Lindblad.

4:55: Piastri crosses first, and he splits the Ferraris to go P2. Norris, however, left something on the table as he only slots into P7.

Replays show a big slide from Norris, who lost a big amount of time in that moment.

4:54: Here come the Ferraris. Leclerc goes into P1 followed by Hamilton. But the McLarens are coming.

4:54: Verstappen splits the Mercedes pair and slots into P2 for the moment.

4:53: Russell jumps to the top of the table, with Antonelli behind him. Hülkenberg slots in third, but is quickly nipped by his teammate Bortoleto.

4:49: Cars are lining up on pit lane as SQ2 begins. 16 drivers remain with ten minutes on the clock.

As with SQ1, teams are required to use the medium tire here in SQ2. Only in SQ3 will you see the soft tires, which this week are the C5 tires.

SQ1

4:46: At the other end of the grid, Norris finished SQ1 in P1 followed by Leclerc, Piastri, Hamilton, Antonelli, Russell, Verstappen, Gasly, Hülkenberg, and Hadjar rounding out the top ten.

4:44: The six drivers eliminated: Lawson, Ocon, Pérez, Bottas, Alonso, and Stroll.

4:43: The Cadillac pair of Pérez and Bottas have been eliminated, as has Alonso.

4:42: Leclerc responds with his second push lap and is just 0.010 off Norris’ pace.

The six drivers in the drop zone as the clock strikes zero: Ocon, Pérez, Albon, Bottas, Alonso, and the already eliminated Stroll.

4:39: Norris goes purple through the second sector, and when you put the full lap together the defending Drivers’ Champion jumps into P1 by more than half a second over Leclerc.

Piastri finishes his lap and jumps up into P2, more than four-tenths behind Norris.

At the other end of the grid, Stroll is out of the car and calling it a day, the first driver to fall in SQ1.

4:38: Replays show Stroll suffering a lockup in the final sector, which sent him sliding off the track.

Norris is back on a push lap, and he goes purple through the first sector. Piastri follows and is just 0.080 off his teammate’s pace. The upgraded McLaren seems to be working so far for the duo.

4:37: Antonelli splits the Ferraris and jumps into P2. The first effort form Verstappen is good for fourth, with a 1:29.801.

4:35: Norris goes purple through the first sector, but is quickly nipped by Leclerc.

And we have a yellow flat, as Lance Stroll has gone off in the final sector. That forces Norris and Piastri to bail out of push laps, and they’ll have to hustle to get back around.

Leclerc jumps into P1 with a 1:29.290, with Hamilton into P2 with a 1:29.642.

4:31: The clock hits 11 minutes remaining, and the standoff on pit lane ends as Bottas is the first out of his garage, starting a big caravan of cars pouring out onto the track around Hard Rock Stadium.

4:30: We have a green light at the end of pit lane in Miami, and SQ1 is officially underway.

It does feel good to see cars back on track in a competitive session after such a long layoff.

4:21: F1 Sprint qualifying is just a few minutes away. Since it has been a while, a quick reminder on the format. There are three segments to F1 Sprint qualifying. The first, SQ1, will last 12 minutes and see the six-slowest drivers eliminated. SQ2 will last ten minutes, and again the slowest six drivers will be eliminated.

SQ3 will last eight minutes, with the remaining ten drivers fighting for pole position.

What happened in FP1 at the Miami GP?

FP1 in Miami offered a few surprises for the field.

While the first three race weekends have been dominated by the Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, it was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who topped the timing sheets, ahead of four-time Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen.

Antonelli could not complete a representative lap on the soft tires, as Mercedes dealt with a power unit issue on his W17, while Russell reported some “noises” with his power unit. Antonelli finished the session fifth, while Russell placed sixth.

Perhaps most notable? Both Ferrari and now Red Bull put “Macarena” rear wings to use. While Ferrari has yet to use that design in a competitive session, Red Bull brought its own version of the design to Miami:

Here are the full standings from the 90-minute session: