Neither parenthood nor McLaren can slow Ver…Read More
Lando Norris expressed satisfaction with his qualifying performance at the Miami Grand Prix, despite narrowly missing out on pole position to Max Verstappen. The McLaren driver finished just 0.065 seconds behind the Red Bull star but highlighted progress with car performance as a key positive. Although Norris admitted to making a mistake in the final corner that likely cost him pole, he felt more connected with his car this weekend—an area he’s struggled with throughout the season. Previously, he has said the McLaren lacks communication or “cueing” when driven on the edge, but in Miami, the car felt more responsive.
Norris, who won the sprint race earlier in the weekend, praised Verstappen for delivering another top-tier lap, calling it a “Max lap,” but was still encouraged by his own form heading into the race. His teammate Oscar Piastri also believed he had the pace to challenge for pole but lamented “poor execution” that left him fourth on the grid. Piastri currently leads the championship by nine points after winning in Saudi Arabia, but emphasized that mistakes are costly in such a competitive field.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained the team’s difficulties in extracting peak performance during qualifying. He said the car behaves more predictably in race conditions than in one-lap qualifying runs with new tyres. This lack of predictability and feedback from the car has prevented both drivers from consistently delivering clean, fast laps. Stella noted that McLaren is working on engineering solutions to make the car more “rich in information,” which would improve driver confidence at the limit.
Stella also suggested that Red Bull may be downplaying their strengths to shape the competitive narrative. He said Red Bull not only builds fast cars and drives them well but also strategically frames the competition to their advantage. According to him, Red Bull often portrays themselves as underdogs despite their consistent performance, and McLaren prefers to stay focused on their own progress rather than get caught up in such narratives.
Red Bull, meanwhile, introduced a new floor upgrade in Miami, the first of several developments aimed at improving their race-day pace against McLaren. Verstappen acknowledged that the unusual layout of the Miami circuit makes it difficult to fully judge performance gains, but noted the changes were at least not detrimental.
The starting grid for the race promises a thrilling contest, with Norris starting second, Verstappen on pole, and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli splitting the McLaren duo. Norris, winless since Australia, sees an opportunity to end that streak, confident that the pace is in the car—if he can put a clean lap together. He expects strong competition not just from Verstappen, but from Piastri and Antonelli as well.
