Live updates of qualifying for Formula One’s Miami Grand Prix, from the Miami International Autodrome.

Sprint race report

Power issues returned to haunt Liam Lawson, as the Kiwi was forced to settle for 15th place in Formula One’s Miami sprint race.

As was the case in Melbourne, Lawson complained of a loss of power in his Racing Bulls, as the new 2026 regulations - a 50-50 split between the battery and combustion engine - continue to plague Racing Bulls, as teammate Arvid Lindblad couldn’t even reach the start line.

“No f****** power, bro,” Lawson was heard telling his race engineer Alexandre Iliopoulos . “You need to tell me what to do, because I have no power out of [turn] 16.”

“I have no power, zero. I’m just getting overtaken.”

The one positive for Lawson, though, is that his team will now have time to work on any fixes, after gathering 19 laps worth of data.

“It’s better that we learn it today, we just can’t have it tomorrow,” he said after the chequered flag.

Both Racing Bulls cars will hope for quick fixes before grand prix qualifying gets underway later on Sunday morning.

At the front of the grid, world champion Lando Norris of McLaren converted pole position into his first win of the season - albeit only a sprint.

With McLaren bringing seven separate upgrades to Miami after the enforced five-week break, teammate Oscar Piastri also capitalised by moving from third to second, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the podium.

After starting the year as the team to beat, Mercedes appear to have been caught - if not overtaken entirely - as George Russell finished fourth, while Kimi Antonelli was sixth.

Liam Lawson at the Miami Grand Prix. Photo / Red Bull

Antonelli had crossed the line fourth, but was penalised after the chequered flag for exceeding track limits.

Mercedes, though, do have a significant upgrade package of their own for the Canadian Grand Prix later this month.

Qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix begins at 8am on Sunday, before the race itself on Monday morning.

After being denied the opportunity to fairly qualify on Saturday (NZ time), Lawson’s Racing Bulls couldn’t make up places in the extreme temperatures - more than 30 degrees in the air and 50 degrees on track.

Having qualified 17th, but been upgraded to 16th after a late penalty to Williams’ Alex Albon, Lawson’s prospects improved again before lights out, as Lindblad and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg couldn’t start at all thanks to faults with their cars.

Once the lights went out, though, Lawson continued to struggle in the Miami heat.

Lawson wasn’t able to duplicate his opening lap from the 2025 Miami sprint, where he gained five places on the opening lap, but accepted 14th place thanks to withdrawals ahead of him.

Lap two, though, saw the Kiwi overtaken by both Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Cadillac’s Sergio Perez, as the lack of power dawned on Lawson.

By lap four, he’d fallen one further place to Albon, and found himself sandwiched between the two Cadillacs as both Williams cars pulled clear.

While Lawson was able to stay within a second of Perez, the Cadillac being on the more robust hard tyre gave him an advantage, as the hot track left drivers forced to be cautious about overtaking and causing wear underneath them.

By lap nine, Lawson finally got around Perez, but spent the rest of the race making up the numbers, before gaining one more place when Albon was forced to pit for new tyres on lap 15.

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.