F1 upgrades: Have McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull caught Mercedes as development battle ignites in Miami
The Sprint weekend in Miami saw four teams contending for the top positions as Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull all had varying levels of upgrades, so have the Silver Arrows been caught? watch the Canadian Grand Prix Sprint weekend on May 22-24, live on Sky Sports
Wednesday 6 May 2026 06:04, UK
Kimi Antonelli's victory in Miami continued Mercedes' unbeaten start to the 2026 season on Sundays with the Silver Arrows having now claimed four Grand Prix wins from four at the start of Formula 1's new era of rules.
But that does not mean to say that the Miami weekend all went Mercedes' way on the return to racing action after F1's enforced five-week break.
After all, McLaren started the event with pole and victory in the Sprint format to end Mercedes' perfect start to the season in competitive sessions, while Red Bull rejoined the fight at the front and Ferrari showed flashes of strong speed at points of the weekend too.
So have the field closed up at the front? And what can we now expect for the races ahead.
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Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull pile on upgrades in Mercedes pursuit
Given the extended length of the time teams had back at their factories to prepare their cars and upgrades for Miami, leading figures in the paddock had suggested the first race back was akin to the start of a 'new championship'.
Expectations that the event might even deliver a reshuffle of the early-season pecking order seen back at the first three races in March was heightened ahead of Friday practice when the FIA published its usual document outlining teams' 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, 27 of which were being introduced collectively across the grid's 'big four' teams.
But while championship leaders Mercedes, waiting to unleash a bigger upgrade next time out in Canada, only brought two updates to their hitherto-undefeated W16 car, their three chief rivals went all in with McLaren and Red Bull each introducing seven new parts and Ferrari a grid-leading 11.
And although the sheer number of upgrades a team brings to an event alone do not ultimately determine how competitive they will be, the revisions did initially appear 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 the world champion and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri then comfortably finishing first and second respectively in the Sprint itself on Saturday. Antonelli was fourth (before a post-race time penalty) and George Russell, out of sorts all weekend on a Miami track that is not to his liking, was fifth.
But a chance to make set-up changes ahead of the Grand Prix sessions brought Mercedes back into play, although Antonelli still needed a superb lap at the start of Q3 to see off a rejuvenated Max Verstappen for Sunday's pole.
The in-form Italian won the Grand Prix again, but was pushed all the way by Norris. The gaps behind were bigger, though, with Piastri 27 seconds back in third and the rest more than 40 seconds behind Antonelli.
Did we see a pecking order shift in Miami?
After seeing his drivers follow up their Sprint one-two with a two-three finish on Sunday, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella offered his take on what the weekend had really told us about the picture at the front.
"I think because of the upgrades that a large number of teams have delivered in Miami, we have seen some changes to the competitive picture," he said.
"Definitely we have seen McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull closing the gap [to Mercedes].
"I think over a single lap, execution is important. We saw McLaren prevailing in the Sprint Qualifying, but the same car was before on the grid in the [Grand Prix] Qualifying, and I think this has to do very much with execution, optimisation and adaptation."
For once this season, Mercedes certainly did not hit the ground running immediately in Miami, with the team not on top of energy deployment and set-up issues on the W16 until after the Sprint.
"I think Mercedes, they still possess a couple of tenths advantage on anybody else," added Stella.
"This was most noticeable in the race, and the Sprint. In the first Sprint section of the weekend, for some reasons, Mercedes, they didn't express their full potential, and it looked like the other people made bigger than expected upgrades.
"But in reality, it was just Mercedes not optimising their potential."
Amid messy races for both their drivers, Sunday was the first time this season that Ferrari failed to finish with a car in the top three of a Grand Prix or Sprint race, despite the team topping the weekend's upgrade list.
"The pace was strong in clean air and we were fighting at the front, but once we dropped into traffic it became more difficult and consistency was the main issue," said Frederic Vasseur.
"There was a big performance delta between the part when Charles [Leclerc] was leading and the later part of the race. It is something we need to look into, because it was a similar picture in the Sprint.
"However, there are some positives to take from the weekend: the starts were good and the upgrades worked as expected. We know where we need to improve."
Red Bull made what Laurent Mekies described as a "definitive step forward" with their RB22, even if their wait for a first podium of the year goes on after Verstappen's race from the front row was compromised by spinning at the second corner as he fought Leclerc for the lead.
Mekies said: "We left Japan 1.2 seconds away from pole, China 1.0 seconds away from pole.
"[The] competition was not going to wait for us with their updates, so everybody has updated the car. But certainly, we knew that on top of the development race, we had to solve some of our issues, and we knew there was lap time in it.
"So to see us this weekend qualifying six tenths away from pole on Friday and less than two tenths away from pole on Saturday is a big indication of the size of the progress. What number is the correct one, we don't know. But compared to where we were, it's something much better than anything we have been able to show this year."
Development battle set to continue in Canada
There is another two-and-a-half week gap 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 a similar level of performance as they had last weekend.
Since 2023, McLaren have been the benchmark team when it comes to development as they climbed from the back of the grid to challenging for podiums during the first half of that season, to winning the constructors' titles in 2024 and 2025.
"The development battle will be crucial this season with four teams in condition to fight for pole position and victories," said Stella.
"Our development pathway has lots in the pipeline, with parts planned for Canada and a few more in Monaco, and Spain. We are in the fight, and we believe this sets the stage for a very interesting championship battle for the fans and F1."
All eyes will be on Mercedes though after they only brought a minor upgrade to Miami, yet Antonelli was still able to continue their unbeaten run in Grands Prix this year.
Mercedes have long been targeting Canada as the destination to bring some major new items, which will likely see changes to the aerodynamics of the car to increase downforce levels.
However, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is wary that not all upgrades work on cars, so has played down the possible performance improvement the Silver Arrows could have.
"Sometimes upgrades don't correlate with the stopwatch, so we need to prove that out. I hope we can," he told Sky Sports F1.
"It is going to be a development race this season. How much can you bring? Are you limited by the cost cap? All of these things will play a role."
McLaren believe Mercedes held in advantage in the high-speed corners in Miami, so will be hoping that gap does not increase.
Stella said: "If we see the behaviour of the car in the corners, they are faster than us. The corners in which they are mainly faster than us are the high-speed corners.
"And in the race, if we look at the end of the first stint, and then the end of the last stint, Antonelli in the first closes the gap, and in the last opens the gap, so all these factors indicate that Mercedes is a faster car."
One team that has been able to match Mercedes in the turns is Ferrari as their performance deficit to McLaren is largely on the straights.
Ferrari are hoping for an Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) to improve their power unit performance.
ADUO is a part of the F1 rules specifically relating to power units, giving the five manufacturers the potential to improve their models, should they be lagging behind the benchmark performer.
It is granted to manufacturers who are down on performance to the leading internal combustion engine (ICE) by two per cent or more. Manufacturers trailing by between two and four per cent will be granted one opportunity to develop their power unit this season, while those trailing by four per cent or more will get two opportunities for improvement.
Ahead of the season, the FIA announced there would be three points during which ICE performance would be reviewed - after the sixth, 12th and 18th of the 24 scheduled rounds.
On the current rescheduled calendar, after the cancellations of April's Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, 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 there is now no 24th round. However, the FIA is reviewing this timeline.
Red Bull will almost certainly not receive 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 the podium fight in Montreal.
Formula 1 next heads to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and another Sprint weekend. Watch live on Sky Sports F1 on May 22-24. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
