Norris thrilled to be ‘back on the top step’ in Miami Sprint as he praises McLaren upgrades

Lando Norris admitted that it was “nice to be back on the top step” following his return to winning ways in the Sprint at the Miami Grand Prix, with the Briton pleased to take victory for McLaren following their significant upgrades package this weekend.

While Mercedes led the way across the opening three rounds, Norris became the first non-Silver Arrows driver to triumph in the 2026 campaign as he converted pole position into a win during Saturday’s Sprint at the Miami International Autodrome.

The reigning World Champion made a strong start and remained mostly untroubled in the lead from there, ultimately crossing the line with a margin of 3.766s over McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri.

“It was a good race – nice to be back on the top step, even if it’s a Sprint,” Norris smiled afterwards, with the win being his first since the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. “A good day for us.

“A massive job for the team in bringing the upgrades – it feels like everyone’s saying the same thing but ours have really helped this weekend, so I’m happy to get it done for the team. It was hot out there, it was sweaty.

“I was still pushing, trying to find that balance of pushing but also being quite relaxed and not making any mistakes. A good start to the weekend, but now I have to do it all over again.”

With Qualifying for the Grand Prix next on the agenda later on Saturday, Norris was asked if he and the team would look to make any adjustments to the car prior to the session.

“Probably not too many,” he explained. “It’s worked so far.

“We’ll probably change a couple of things, there’s a couple things I wanted different from yesterday that we’ll adjust so hopefully we’ll have a little bit more to come, but I’m sure the others will too. We’ll just keep our head down and keep pushing.”

On the other side of the garage, Piastri faced pressure from the chasing Ferrari of Charles Leclerc during the latter stages of the 19-lap event but managed to hold onto second place.

Quizzed on whether he was satisfied with the seven points that he would collect from the result, the Australian responded: “Yes, I think mostly. Obviously it was a little bit defiant to try and stay with Lando, but overall it was a good morning, so we’ll try and see what we can do for Qualifying.

“I think everyone else will learn a lot and so will we, so hopefully we can maintain that through the rest of the weekend.”