Norris knew McLaren' had taken a step forward from the very first lap"

McLaren entered the Miami Grand Prix weekend with the weight of expectation on their shoulders. After weeks of anticipation surrounding the first major development phase of the MCL40, Friday’s running offered the clearest indication yet that the team’s aggressive upgrade philosophy is paying off.

Lando Norris stormed to Sprint Pole with a 1:27.869, while Oscar Piastri secured third, giving McLaren its strongest qualifying result of the season and confirming the car’s step forward.

The team’s performance was not the product of circumstance or luck. Both drivers emphasised that the new package had transformed the car’s behaviour from the very first laps, allowing them to attack with confidence and precision. With Ferrari and Mercedes also bringing significant updates, McLaren’s leap to the front of the field was one of the defining stories of the day.

Lando Norris’ pole‑winning performance was the culmination of months of development work, and the Briton made clear just how immediately the upgrades had changed the car’s character.

“We came into this weekend having put a lot of hard work into these upgrades, but you can never be certain what to expect until the car is on the track,” Norris said. “I'm incredibly happy for the whole team because, from the very first lap, it felt like we had taken a step forward. It gave me the confidence I've been looking for, allowing me to really push and exploit its potential straight away.”

Despite the strong result, Norris was careful not to overstate McLaren’s advantage. The field remains tightly compressed, and the team is still learning how to extract the full performance of the revised MCL40.

“It’s a great start, and it feels good to be right in the mix, but we're keeping our feet on the ground,” he continued. “It was incredibly close out there with several teams looking quick, and we know there are still plenty of unknowns, especially when it comes to race pace. We are still learning how to get the most out of this new package, but we've started as well as we could have asked for.”

For Norris, the focus now shifts to consolidating the team’s early momentum. “For now, I'm happy with what we've achieved, and we will focus on making further improvements ahead of the sprint and Grand Prix Qualifying tomorrow.”

Oscar Piastri’s third place underlined the strength of McLaren’s upgrade package across both sides of the garage. The Australian was encouraged by the car’s behaviour and the consistency of its performance.

“I’m happy with that,” Piastri said after securing P3. “The car had good potential, which was really nice to see. We still have things to improve, but the new package is a good step, so thank you to the whole team for their efforts. Congratulations to Lando as well — we didn’t luck into today’s result, the potential is there.”

Piastri noted that Ferrari had looked strong throughout Friday, making McLaren’s front‑running positions even more significant. “The Ferraris looked strong throughout the day, so qualifying where we have is a really good effort,” he said. “Whilst we expect the Mercedes to remain competitive, they haven’t looked as dominant so far, but there’s still a lot of track action to go.”

With the Sprint and Grand Prix qualifying still ahead, Piastri emphasised the importance of learning quickly. “We’ll take the learnings from today and see what we can do in the Sprint, before we switch our focus to GP Qualifying.”

Technical Director Neil Houldey provided the broader engineering context behind McLaren’s breakthrough. The first phase of the team’s development plan has been months in the making, and Friday’s results validated the direction taken by the aerodynamics and design groups.

“We’re pleased with today’s result and performance across the opening day of running in Miami,” Houldey said. “The car has been great for both drivers, and the first phase of our development upgrades has shown promising signs.”

The scale of the improvement was reflected in the team’s grid positions. “To come away with a Pole and third on tomorrow’s Sprint grid, given where we were in the first few races, is a strong step forward,” he continued.

“Credit to the team at the factory for this first step, from aerodynamics and design through to manufacturing, and to the crew at the track who finished putting the package together, ready for today’s sessions.”

Houldey stressed that the job is far from finished. “Now we need to carry this momentum into the rest of the weekend and aim to score as many points as we can. The pace is encouraging, the execution has been excellent, and the focus is on converting this step into results while continuing to gather and exploit further performance from the entire package.”