McLaren and Ferrari jump 'surprising,' says Russell

George Russell admits he has been surprised how big a step forward McLaren and Ferrari have made with upgrades after Mercedes’ dominant run ended in Sprint qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix.

Lando Norris took Sprint pole, with Kimi Antonelli’s final lap some 0.222s off Norris and 0.017s ahead of Oscar Piastri. Russell was sixth, over 0.6s off the pace and also behind Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, as Mercedes 100% record of front row lockouts in 2026 came to an unexpected end.

“Pretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari have made, so that's pretty damn impressive,” Russell said. “We knew they'd probably close the gap but they've been quicker than us. On my side have been struggling today, Miami's not a track that I love to be honest especially with these hotter conditions, but it's only Sprint qualifying so let's see what tomorrow brings.

“I was just overheating my tires a lot in that twisty section in the middle, I was struggling to get the right balance with the car so not much more to say than that really. As I said just being quite surprised by the progress of the others but another day tomorrow.”

Russell is also less confident that he can make progress in the Sprint race on Saturday, although he says any hopes are likely to rest on making a strong start.

“I don't know, I’m not in a great starting position, Sprint races generally don't offer that much but obviously China was a bit more interesting this year which gives an opportunity to have a bit of a race. I want to get off the line, hopefully don't lose any more positions, and see what we can do.”

Despite Piastri concurring with Russell and saying he expected Mercedes to remain the benchmark arriving in Miami, Antonelli was less surprised at the outcome.

“It was a pretty messy session,” Antonelli said. “I struggled a lot with the car and medium [tire]. I couldn't get a good lap in, and then on the soft, all of a sudden the car became more alive. I felt more comfortable. Of course, it was a shame not to try the soft in FP1, but I think there was a little bit left on the table.

“But I think, despite everything, it was a decent result. With the team, we did a great job on recovery, and now we look forward to tomorrow. Definitely, we'll dig deep tonight to see what we can do better in order to be faster tomorrow.

“We were expecting this weekend to be quite a bit tougher. Also because those teams, everyone brought major upgrades, which obviously meant they closed the gap massively or even went in front of us.

“The McLarens have got the same PU as us, and they improved the car a lot, so it was expected for them to be at the front. But I think we can be in the fight, and that's what we're going to try to do tomorrow and then on Sunday as well.”