Formula One returned after its enforced April break, and the sport put on a show worth waiting for. Andrea Kimi Antonelli made it three wins in a row in another demonstration of the Italian teenager's incredible potential. However, that victory masks the fact that Mercedes will not have things quite as easy as they might've hoped from the opening rounds. Ferrari have closed the gap, Max Verstappen looked like a challenger once more, and McLaren were arguably the fastest team in a thrilling Miami Grand Prix.

Antonelli started the day in pole position, but it would not be a lights-to-flag drive for the championship leader. He and fellow front-row starter Verstappen duked it out on the run to Turn 1, but both locked up on the low-grip surface. Heavy rain had removed much of the Pirelli rubber from the track, and the organisers had even brought the race's start time forwards to avoid another downpour. It was Charles Leclerc who led the opening tour to set the stage for a stellar Sunday.

While Antonelli recovered from his deep moment at Turn 1, Verstappen's own return to the track saw the Red Bull spinning 360 degrees in a cloud of tyre smoke. The other 21 cars somehow avoided collecting the Dutchman, but any hopes he had of returning to winning ways in 2026 were severely dented. A frantic rush of frontrunners engulfed the RB22, and the order shifted to Leclerc leading Antonelli and then the two McLarens chasing them down, with Lando Norris ahead of Oscar Piastri.

The drama hadn't finished there, though. Lewis Hamilton went wheel-to-wheel with a high-placed Franco Colapinto into the Turn 11 left-hander. The two collided as the Alpine caught a snap of oversteer, damaging Hamilton's bodywork. Seconds later, there was another close moment at the same corner, this time with Liam Lawson going deep to avoid ex-teammate Verstappen's attempt at a pass. The midfield was bunched up behind the yellow-liveried Racing Bulls car to create a six-car scrap for P8.

Verstappen's lowly position was generating a lot of overtaking action. He went deep into the heavy-braking Turn 17 hairpin when battling Carlos Sainz and opened the door for Alex Albon to get alongside. Verstappen won out, somehow, but the order shook up behind him as Lawson, Pierre Gasly, the Haas pair, and both Williams drivers vyed for the lower points positions. Closer to the front, Antonelli was closing in on Leclerc as Mercedes teammate, George Russell, made a pass on Piastri for P4.

Russell, who many touted as the title favourite, had not enjoyed his Miami weekend as much as the sister Silver Arrows driver. Antonelli had taken pole position for the race and a front-row start for the Sprint. Russell's move was important for his championship aspirations, but Antonelli was fighting for the top spot. Passes came for the lead as Antonelli and Leclerc swapped back and forth, but the scrap had to stop for a Safety Car intervention just as Norris joined the fun and passed for second place.

Two separate issues slowed proceedings, with Isack Hadjar crashing at Turn 15 and Gasly flipping over at Turn 17. Hadjar broke his suspension at the tight Turn 14 entry, while Lawson had hit the Alpine driver to send him tumbling over and onto the tyre barriers. All drivers were unharmed, but the three, plus a mechanical failure for Audi's Nico Hulkenberg, retired from the race. Red Bull took the opportunity to pit Verstappen under the slowdown for Pirelli's Hard compound, but were the only team to roll the dice.

The race restart had Leclerc driving away from Norris and Antonelli, with Piastri coming back at Russell for P4. The leading trio kept battling, and Norris ended up being the third race leader with a move up the inside of Turn 11 on Leclerc. Antonelli repeated the move on the Ferrari driver soon after, too, with the three constructors looking finely matched. There was another car in the mix for the win as Verstappen's cheap pit stop had him slowly carving through the field, but not needing to stop again. Switching to the Hard Pirelli was working well for him, and there was no requirement for him to make another stop.

A threat of rain had delayed the pit stop phase, but once a light shower that didn't affect grip passed, the pit lane got busier. Russell was the first to stop, with Mercedes looking to undercut their second car up the order. The decision worked, too, with Leclerc stopping soon after and falling behind the Briton. It was a similar story for Antonelli as well, with the undercut again favouring Mercedes and seeing the Italian regain the net race lead. A masterful strategy by Mercedes that helped both drivers advance was reminiscent of their domination in the 2010s.

This race was not won, though, with the little matter of a four-time world champion leading on old Pirelli rubber. Sandwiched by title winners, Antonelli had to probe forward at Verstappen, while defending from reigning champion Norris behind. The young driver managed well, though, getting around the outside of Verstappen at Turn 10. Norris followed suit at Turn 17, but the battle for P1 was done. Antonelli's pit stop had decided the victor, with Norris lacking the pace to make it back past. The podium, however, was far from settled. Verstappen was falling further and further down the order with his ageing tyres.

Russell, who had once again slipped behind Leclerc and Piastri over the second stint, was the last car to close in on Verstappen as the race reached its climax. Leclerc looked good for P3, with Piastri then Russell and Verstappen behind. But this Miami GP still had another twist to come with the Ferrari driver spinning on his own on the 57th and final lap. Contact with the wall damaged his car with only a few kilometres left, and he was powerless to stop those chasing him from passing. Russell gingerly got by in the final braking zone, but made contact with Leclerc as the Ferrari couldn't corner properly.

Verstappen, too, made it up to P5 as Leclerc's damaged car limped to the line in a race finish that was as dramatic as its start. Antonelli extended his lead in the championship to 20 points over Russell as F1 takes another short break before the Canadian GP. McLaren looked strong after their performance, too, taking the other two podium spots. Leclerc, though, fell even further, with a post-race 20-second penalty demoting him to P8 after repeatedly leaving the track during that chaotic last lap.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli has become the youngest Formula One World Championship leader after the teenager won the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix. Fortunate Safety Car timing assisted the Italian to his victory after a sluggish start from pole position. The result might flatter Antonelli's race, with McLaren's Oscar Piastri looking likely for a shock result. Nonetheless, Mercedes now have three consecutive P1 finishes as the Silver Arrows continue to be the class of the field.

Despite the Mercedes dominance, this was not a 1-2 finish for the Brackley-based squad. George Russell had the early advantage between the two teammates. His timing for a pit stop to keep close with Piastri, however, cost him dearly. The Briton, who looked almost unopposed for the title after the opening round, now sits nine points behind Antonelli as F1 enters its surprise spring break.

Mercedes, however, did begin the race with another front-row lockout. Antonelli edged out Russell, who struggled throughout the Saturday Qualifying session. Yet it was Russell who was the quicker-starting car between the pair. Antonelli suffered with wheelspin as he tried to deploy power into his Medium Pirelli tyres, dropping to P6 by Turn 1. With Russell passed by two cars, too, the slow getaways for the championship-leading team again hindered their early-race chances.

Piastri led the way from P3, with Charles Leclerc in hot pursuit. The Australian has not raced a single Grand Prix lap in 2026 after two DNS (Did Not Start) rounds, and showed the world what they had been missing. Taking to the outside of the track and sweeping into Turn 1 saw the McLaren lead the Ferrari, and Lando Norris jumped Russell, too, by the time the pack reached the Esses.

Far from many expectations, this 53-lap race began as it continued, with a three-constructor battle for the podium. The fightback from the Mercedes duo began immediately. Antonelli sped by Lewis Hamilton with extra energy down the start-finish straight after the first tour, and Russell repeated that on Norris one lap later. While Antonelli's moves stalled a little from there, Russell soon got Leclerc for P2, too, and promptly began closing the gap to leader Piastri.

With the ease with which Russell dispatched Leclerc and Norris, things weren't looking good for Piastri. The Mercedes man dived to the inside of the Turn 16 chicane to take the lead. Piastri, however, was driving smart with the new F1 regulations. Using the run around 130R en route to the final chicane to recharge his battery allowed the Melbourne-born driver to fight back down the pit straight. The lead returned to McLaren, and it looked as though we had a race on our hands.

Antonelli also made a pass on a McLaren, this time Norris, into the chicane, grabbing P4 from the world champion. He repeated the move on Leclerc soon after, but the Monegasque driver echoed Piastri's efforts to repass on the main straight. Although Antonelli didn't make the move on track, the position would soon come his way as the pit stop window opened.

McLaren took the fight to Mercedes and stopped Piastri ahead of Russell to protect against any possible undercut to take the lead. Mercedes followed suit with Russell once they knew he would be clear of Max Verstappen after stopping. With Leclerc also switching his Pirelli tyres to the Hards, the lead fell to Antonelli, and it would be one he would retain thanks to an incident between Ollie Bearman and Franco Colapinto at Spoon.

Recharging of Colapinto's Alpine car had the Argentine racer much slower than Bearman entering the double left-hander. An instinctive defensive move had the Haas move onto the grass to avoid contact, but Bearman lost all grip and smashed heavily into the outside barriers. Footage of the young British star saw him limping with help from a marshal, clearly in some pain after the incident.

Those who hadn't stopped jumped into the pit lane, with Antonelli and Hamilton benefiting most from the frontrunners. A well-timed restart from Antonelli kept him in P1, but Russell could not keep on Piastri's rear wing, with Hamilton passing his old teammate into Turn 1. Russell's tricky Sunday went from bad to worse as what seemed to be low energy deployment allowed Leclerc to pass, too.

Ferrari vs Ferrari fighting, a regular feature in the early part of this season, was the next entertainment piece. With Antonelli disappearing up the road and Piastri holding firm in P2, the battle for the final podium position was at stake between the two teammates. Millimetre-perfect battling followed, with Hamilton defending from Leclerc all across the track. Leclerc, though, hung on around the outside of Turn 1, and took P3 from the seven-time champion.

That move grabbed the podium position for Leclerc, but Hamilton soon dropped back. Russell stormed past him before a lockup at the chicane showed that he wasn't feeling too comfortable in his Ferrari. Norris, too, battled past the struggling Scuderia Ferrari after two attempts. Russell looked like he might also pass the lead Ferrari in the closing stages. Leclerc, however, repeated Piastri's earlier move of allowing a pass out of 130R to get more power down the start-finish straight to remain third.

Out front, though, Antonelli crossed the line to lead the championship, taking P1 from Russell. Piastri and Leclerc joined the teenager on the podium after hard-fought Sunday drives, with the British trio of Russell, Norris, and Hamilton rounding out the top six. With the Middle Eastern races being cancelled, there are now four F1-free weekends before racing resumes in Miami. Unlike the summer break, though, car development is allowed, and we could see quite a difference in performance when F1 hits Florida at the start of May.