George Russell: McLaren and Ferrari’s Miami Upgrades “Pretty Surprising” as Mercedes Falls Back

Antonelli and Russell were only fifth and sixth in SQ1, and the takeaway was that the Silver Arrows were nowhere near as comfortable as they had been pre-break.

Russell’s diagnosis from inside the car points at the same limitations that Miami always produces. “Just overheating the tyres a lot. In that twisty section in the middle, I struggled to get the right balance with the car,” he said. “Miami is not a track I love, especially in those hotter conditions but it’s only Sprint Qualifying, so let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

Why Sixth on a Sprint Grid Isn’t a Disaster Yet

Sprints are a strange beast. The race itself is short, the points are thin, and the overtaking windows are limited unless something genuinely chaotic happens at the front. Russell is well aware of this.

“I’ve been quite surprised by the progress of the others. I’m not in a great starting position. The Sprints generally don’t offer that much but obviously China was interesting, which gives an opportunity to have a bit of a race.”

The 2025 Shanghai Sprint produced enough variability to turn a mediocre starting slot into something useful, and Russell is hoping Miami offers a similar opportunity. Fortunately, Sprint Qualifying does not set the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. There is a full qualifying session still to come, with another shot at decoding why Friday’s car balance went sideways.

Lando Norris won last year’s Miami Sprint ahead of Piastri and Hamilton, and on Friday’s evidence those same three teams are the ones to beat again. The championship is long, but the upgrade war just got a lot more crowded, and Mercedes is currently the team trying to work out what everyone else figured out over the break.