To be young, gifted and fast -- Antonelli, 19, wins the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix

David J. Neal, Miami Herald on May 3, 2026

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — With all the worries about rain, even after moving the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix to early afternoon Sunday and canceling two other races at Miami International Autodrome, what kind of race did we get?

One decided more by the volume of on-track passes among the leaders than the volume of raindrops on the track.

And, a little more history from 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli. The Mercedes driver became the first driver in Formula 1 history to win his first three grands prix from pole position, outrunning by 3.2 seconds 2024 Miami Grand Prix and 2025 and this year’s F1 Sprint winner Lando Norris.

“It was a good race, a very special one,” Antonelli said. “It was not an easy one. I had a little bit of everything — the start was still not great. Then, I was lucky with how things played out despite the mistake. Then, we were in a fight, me, (Ferrari’s) Charles (Leclerc) and Lando. I got passed by Lando. I made a mistake on energy. I was chasing. Luckily, the undercut (early pit stop) worked very well, and we found ourselves being chased.”

Antonelli’s win, the first for a Miami Grand Prix polesitter, had a two-pronged effect on winning streaks.

It extended his winning streak to three races, and Mercedes’ to four races (George Russell won the season opener). Also, it ended the four-race winning streak in Miami by McLaren Racing. McLaren had to settle for Norris and 2025 Miami Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri joining Antonelli on the podium.

Norris claimed he was happy McLaren seemed to have better pace this weekend and was happy about the points scored, but felt they left a possible win on the board by not pitting earlier.

Behind the podium trio, Leclerc spun on the last lap, recovered, but watched Mercedes George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen move on by for fourth and fifth.

Antonelli kept ahead of Norris despite gearbox problems that lasted a couple of laps. Also, he had to be careful over the last 11 laps after his crew told him over the phone, “We have a second strike for (violating) track limits, Kimi. No more. No more.”

As is his wont, Antonelli stumbled off the start from pole, although in this case, he had company — Max Verstappen also came off the line with more smoke and noise than speed. Antonelli said he locked up to avoid Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as Leclerc zipped between Antonelli and Verstappen.

Antonelli failed to hold the first corner. He just went off the course, but Verstappen spun as he went wheel-to-wheel inside Leclerc in the second corner.

“Sorry, guys,” a chagrined Verstappen apologized into his team radio.

That dropped Verstappen back to ninth and an early pit stop pushed him back farther. Meanwhile, up front, Antonelli found controlled pace to start trading spots with Leclerc, who ripped Antonelli — “too harshly” he admitted afterwards — as too reckless in wheel-to-wheel situations during Saturday’s Sprint race.

Neither their dual for the lead nor their fight over second place after Norris swept to the lead, featured any contact among the several position switches.

The first grand prix in the United States for Formula 1 rookie team Cadillac resulted in Sergio Perez finishing 16th and Valtteri Bottas coming in 18th.

The race’s start was moved to 1 p.m. ET and the Formula 2 race moved to 9:30 a.m in hopes of avoiding Sunday’s late afternoon thunderstorms. That worked, although rain and lightning around 7:30 a.m. caused the cancellation of the McLaren Trophy America race.

A fun morning with Formula 2

Like the F1 race, the Formula 2 race started with some worries about rain, but ended even more breathlessly despite dealing with the rooster tails from standing water and water-blocked vision that the F1 guys didn’t.

A pass with MP Motorsports’ Gabriele Mini hip to hip with Dams Lucas Oil’s Dino Beganovic longer than a couple dancing down the Soul Train line gave Mini the victory in a three-way shootout that also included Invicta’s Rafael Camara.

The U.S. representation in the first F2 race on U.S. soil finished eighth and ninth, Colton Herta ahead of Sebastian Montoya.

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