– Expectations were high at Ferrari before the third segment of the sprint qualifying began on Friday in Miami. Charles Leclerc had secured 2nd place in SQ1 and even set the best time in SQ2, and Lewis Hamilton was once fourth and once third. It seemed as if the rule changes in the middle of the 2026 Formula 1 season had overturned the pecking order, with the better end for Ferrari.
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In the end, it was not a Mercedes on sprint pole, but world champion Lando Norris in the McLaren. Leclerc slipped from first to fourth place, four tenths of a second behind, and Hamilton was missing even three-quarters of a second as seventh in the results. “I had hoped we would be better,” Hamilton sighs. “But yes, the car didn’t feel particularly great.”
Why 2026 is so important for Hamilton
2026 is a crucial season for the seven-time world champion. If Ferrari falls behind again, and he loses the team duel against Leclerc again, even with a completely new generation of car, it would suggest that the best years might possibly be behind him. The hopes for the Miami update were all the greater: “Before the weekend, I was hopeful that we could be further up. But apparently, that’s not the case.”
Still, the sheer speed of the “new” Ferrari flashed up again and again on Friday. Mercedes driver George Russell already fears that his team’s dominance might be over: “We knew they would close the gap – but not that they would overtake us,” he says after finishing sixth in the sprint qualifying in Miami.
Leclerc: The direction is right
Leclerc is confident that Ferrari has made progress with the updates: “The updates are good. It’s just that everyone brought something. We expected Mercedes to still be the car to beat. McLaren has made a huge step, but you also have to say that they were not optimally set up in the first few races of the season. They had the potential but didn’t manage to realize it.”
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“We especially had problems with the tires today,” says Leclerc. “The medium worked well. But the feeling on the soft was not good. We have to look into that. We know our race pace is stronger. But in qualifying, we still have a bit of work to do. On Saturday’s qualifying, we have to fine-tune a bit and find something. In the race, I trust that we will be there. We have the pace for it. The only question is whether we can overtake.”
Charles Leclerc is currently third in the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship drivers’ standings with 49 points. The overall leader is Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli (72 points). Lewis Hamilton is fourth with 41 points.
The F1 sprint in Miami takes place on Saturday at 6 p.m. CEST; qualifying then at 10 p.m. (Click here: Miami schedule and 2026 Formula 1 calendar)
