A simple imperfect execution was enough to tip the victory. McLaren looks back on the key moment that allowed Antonelli to win.
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The 2026 Miami Grand Prix was decided by a detail… but a crucial detail. While Lando Norris was leading the race, McLaren was slow to react to the early stop of Kimi Antonelli. This choice opened the door to a perfectly executed undercut by Mercedes.
By stopping one lap earlier, Antonelli took advantage of new tires to regain a strategic advantage. When Norris came out of the pits, he was immediately overtaken, losing a position he would never recover on track.
Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal, acknowledges that this moment was decisive in the outcome of the race.
“We were facing a faster car, but if we had kept the lead, we could have stayed ahead until the finish” he explains.
A question of timing… but not only
While pure strategy played a role, McLaren emphasizes another essential point: the overall execution of the stop. The problem is not limited to the chosen moment, but to the entire sequence in the pit lane.
“The timing of the stop was decisive, but it should not be analyzed only from a strategic perspective, Stella specifies. We also lost time in the pit lane, and that comes down to execution.”
Between a slightly imperfect stop, a less efficient in-lap, and a few tenths lost, the total was heavy. In a Formula 1 where every fraction of a second counts, these small gaps were enough to tip the race.
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An opportunity that slips away definitively
Once overtaken, Lando Norris tried to catch up to Antonelli during the last 30 laps. Despite constant pressure and a solid pace, the Brit never found an opening.
According to Stella, even with a more favorable pit exit, the task would have remained difficult: “With warm tires, Antonelli had the advantage of the ideal racing line. It would have been very difficult to stay ahead.”
He nevertheless believes that a minor adjustment could have changed the outcome: “If we had stopped Lando about seven tenths earlier, he probably would have kept the position.”
McLaren between frustration and satisfaction
Despite this disappointment, McLaren also takes the positive from this weekend in Florida. The team showed that it could fight for victory against Mercedes, confirming its progress since the start of the season.
“It’s a collective effort. We did an excellent job to become competitive again, Stella emphasizes. But here, several factors combined and cost us the victory.”
In the end, this Miami Grand Prix leaves a bitter taste for the British team. Because in such a close race, the slightest imperfection can make all the difference… and turn a potential victory into a simple second place.
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