F1 upgrade: McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull catch Mercedes in heat of development battle at Miami | F1 News

Kimi Antonelli’s victory in Miami on Sunday continued Mercedes’ unbeaten start to the 2026 season with the Silver Arrows now claiming four grand prix wins at the start of a new era of Formula 1 rules.

But that doesn’t mean the Miami weekend has gone the way of Mercedes on its way back to racing action after F1’s enforced five-week hiatus.

After all, McLaren opened the event with pole and victory in sprint format to cap off a perfect start to Mercedes’ season in a competitive session, while Red Bull rejoined the battle at the front and Ferrari also flashed strong pace in the points weekend.

So the front field is closed? And what can we expect for the races ahead now.

Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull pile on for upgrades in pursuit of Mercedes

Given the extended length of time the teams had to return to their factories to build and upgrade their cars for Miami, leading figures in the paddock suggested that the return of the first race was akin to the start of a ‘new championship’.

A reshuffle of the early-season pecking order seen in the first three races of March is also expected ahead of Friday’s practice when the FIA ​​publishes its usual document outlining team car changes for the weekend ahead.

The Miami document confirmed an unusually-long list of changes across the 11-team grid – 64 new parts in total, with 27 being introduced across the grid’s ‘big four’ teams collectively.

But while championship leaders Mercedes, waiting to bring a major upgrade next time in Canada, have introduced just two updates to their so far unbeaten W16 car, with their three main rivals McLaren and Red Bull each introducing seven new parts and Ferrari a grid-leading 11.

And while the amount of upgrades a team brings to an event alone doesn’t ultimately determine how competitive they will be, the early fixes seem to have provided an immediate impact.

In sprint qualifying on Friday, Lando Norris became the first non-Mercedes driver to claim a pole position in 2026, with world champion and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastre then comfortably first and second respectively in the sprint on Saturday. Antonelli was fourth (before a post-race time penalty) and George Russell, not his favorite at the Miami track all weekend, was fifth.

But a chance to change the set-up ahead of the Grand Prix session brought Mercedes back into the game, although Antonelli still needed a great lap at the start of Q3 to see off a resurgent Max Verstappen for Sunday’s pole.

The in-form Italian won the Grand Prix again, but pushed all the way by Norris. The gaps behind were even bigger, with Piastre 27 seconds behind in third and the rest over 40 seconds behind Antonelli.

Have we seen a pecking order shift in Miami?

After watching his drivers follow up their sprint one-two with two-three finishes on Sunday, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella offered his take on what the weekend really told us about the picture ahead.

“I think with the upgrades that have been delivered by a large number of teams in Miami, we’ve seen some changes in the competitive picture,” he said.

“Obviously we’ve seen McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull close the gap (to Mercedes).

“I think over a single lap, execution is important. We saw McLaren dominate in sprint qualifying, but the same car was on the grid earlier in (grand prix) qualifying and I think it has a lot to do with execution, optimization and adaptation.”

For once this season, Mercedes certainly didn’t hit the ground running immediately in Miami, with the team not getting to grips with power placement and set-up issues in W16 until after the sprint.

“I think Mercedes, they still have a few tenths of an advantage over anybody else,” Stella added.

“It was most noticeable in the race and the sprint. In the first sprint category of the weekend, for some reason, Mercedes, they didn’t express their full potential, and it looked like other people made bigger than expected upgrades.

“But in reality, it’s just that Mercedes didn’t optimize their potential.”

In a messy race for both of their drivers, Sunday was the first time this season that the team failed to finish with a car in the top three of a Ferrari Grand Prix or Sprint race, despite topping the weekend upgrade list.

“The pace was strong in the clear air and we were fighting at the front, but once we got into traffic it became more difficult and consistency was the main problem,” said Frédéric Vasseur.

“There was a big performance delta between when Charles (Leclerc) was in the lead and the later part of the race. That’s something we have to look at, because it was a similar picture in the sprint.

“However, there are some positives from the weekend: the start was good and the upgrades worked as expected. We know where we need to improve.”

Red Bull made what Laurent Mackies described as a “definite step” with their RB22, even if their wait for a first podium of the year continued as Verstappen’s race from the front row was compromised by a spin at the second corner as he battled Leclerc for the lead.

Mackies said: “We moved Japan to 1.2 seconds from the pole, China to 1.0 seconds from the pole.

“(The) competition wasn’t going to wait for us with their updates, so everyone updated the car. But of course, we knew that at the top of the development race, we had to fix some issues, and we knew that included lap times.

“So to see us six-tenths from the pole on Friday and two-tenths from the pole on Saturday this weekend is a big indication of the size of the progress. Which number is right, we don’t know. But compared to where we were, it’s a lot better than what we’ve been able to show this year.”

Canada’s development battle will continue

There’s another two and a half weeks until the next race weekend in Montreal, so expect to see more upgrades across the grid at the Canadian Grand Prix on May 22-24.

McLaren will bring the second part of their update from Miami, hoping they can add the same level of performance as last weekend.

Since 2023, McLaren has been a benchmark team when it comes to development as they won the constructors’ titles in 2024 and 2025, challenging for podiums in the first half of that season from the back of the grid.

“The development battle will be crucial this season with four teams fighting for pole positions and wins,” said Stella.

“We have a number of development pipelines in the pipeline, with parts planned for Canada and others in Monaco and Spain. We are in the fight, and we believe it will set the stage for a very interesting championship battle for fans and F1.”

All eyes will be on Mercedes though after they only brought a minor upgrade in Miami, Antonelli managed to continue their unbeaten run at the Grands Prix this year.

Mercedes has long targeted Canada as a destination for some major new items, which will likely see changes to the car’s aerodynamics to increase downforce levels.

However, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff cautions that not all upgrades work on the car, so the Silver Arrows have played down potential performance improvements.

“Sometimes the upgrades are not related to the stopwatch, so we have to prove it. I hope we can,” he said. Sky Sports F1.

“It’s going to be a development race this season. How much can you bring in? Are you limited by the cost cap? All those things will play a role.”

McLaren believes Mercedes have the advantage in the high-speed corners in Miami, so hopefully the gap won’t widen.

Stella said: “If we look at the behavior of the cars in the corners, they are faster than us.

“And in the race, if we look at the end of the first stint, and then at the end of the last stint, Antonelli closed the gap in the first and opened the gap in the last, so all these factors indicate that Mercedes is a faster car.”

One team that has been able to match Mercedes in turns is Ferrari as their performance deficit to McLaren is largely on the straights.

Ferrari expects an Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunity (ADUO) to improve the performance of their power units.

ADUO is the part of the F1 rules that specifically deals with power units, giving the five manufacturers the possibility to improve their models, if they are lagging behind benchmark performers.

Leading Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) is awarded to manufacturers whose efficiency is reduced by two percent or more. Manufacturers lagging between two and four percent will get one chance to develop their power units this season, while those four percent or more behind will get two chances to improve.

Ahead of the season, the FIA ​​announced that there would be three points during which ICE performance would be reviewed – after the 6th, 12th and 18th of the 24 scheduled rounds.

In the current rescheduled calendar, after April’s Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix were cancelled, those rounds are the Monaco Grand Prix (June 5–7), Dutch Grand Prix (August 21–23), Mexico City Grand Prix (October 30–November 1) and now Round 4 is missing. However, the FIA ​​is reviewing this timeline.

Red Bull will almost certainly not get an ADUO, so will aim to continue to make gains on the chassis and aerodynamic side. Their plans for Canada are unknown but they are certainly heading in the right direction and cannot be ruled out of contention for the stage in Montreal.

Formula 1 next heads to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and another sprint weekend. Watch live on Sky Sports F1 from 22-24 May. Stream Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime