We are back from the April Break and back to Miami !
This article will provide you a quick recap of the April Break, a slight preview of the Miami Grand Prix and all the important things that happened during the Miami Grand Prix.
April Break
After the Middle Eastern races (Bahrain & Saudi Arabian Grand Prix of 2026) were cancelled that were due in the month of April, the 11 teams got enough time to make changes to their cars. Also in the month of April, the FIA made a few refinements to the 2026 rules and regulations which were probably triggered by the unappreciative responses of the majority of the drivers and teams. Some these changes are, reduction in energy harvesting limits, increased ability to deploy energy at full throttle, less extreme battery saving, and lower recharge limits in qualifying, suggesting that racing will probably feel more flat out again.
Along with that, major and shocking news was released in April that Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen's racing engineer and Head of Racing at Red Bull Racing, will be leaving the team after securing 4 World Championships with Red Bull Racing at the end of 2027, only to join McLaren from 2028 onwards taking on the role of Chief Racing Officer, and rumours are that Andrea Stella might also be eyeing for an exit from McLaren to join Ferrari at Vasseur's position.
Great news for Formula 1 fans in Turkey, F1 will be returning to Turkey in 2027, with the Turkish GP taking place after many years in Istanbul.
Miami Grand Prix 2026 Preview
The Miami Grand Prix will be the 4th round of the FIA Formula One World Championship as the previous two races were cancelled and removed from the calender. It takes place in Miami, USA at the Miami International Autodrome, which is a street style, temporary circuit set in the Hard Rock Stadium Complex in Miami Gardens, home to NFL's famous Miami Dolphins Franchise. The circuit is made around an artificial marina, giving it a more distinctive atmosphere, it is of 5.41km with 19 corners. There will be a total of 57 laps in this race with a total of 308.32km of distance covered.
The First Time a F1 Race took place in Miami was in 2022, that is quite recently. It was first won in that year by Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, Sainz who was with Ferrari during that time. In 2023, Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso stood on the podium at Miami with Max Verstappen setting the fastest lap time in Miami that is 1:29.708. The 2024 podium saw, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, and 2025 marked the end of Red Bull's dominance on this circuit with the drivers on the podium being, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and George Russell respectively.
Quite a few teams introduced special edition race suits and liveries for the Miami GP weekend.
Cadillac revealed their livery for their first home race in USA, with the livery being covered in black and white stars, representing the country.
Visa Cash App Racing Bulls (VCARB) also released a special livery for the weekend along with special merch for the fans too, it featured a bright yellow neon colour with silver and red highlights covered in a glossy clear coat.
Mercedes revealed special purple race suits in partnership with Nubank that took everyone's attention almost immediately and also went viral instantly.
Now apart from the obvious reason fans love the Miami Grand Prix, the most rememorable moment in Miami was in 2025, drivers parade where all the F1 drivers got to drive life size F1 cars. Along with that, the atmosphere is filled with the North American breeze and energy and also many celebrities. This elite combination of racing, american, and star studded energy is what makes the Miami Grand Prix stand out!
FP1
- Charles Leclerc
- Max Verstappen
- Oscar Piastri
- Red Bull brought an upgraded rear-wing for the Miami GP.
- Lewis Hamilton came in at fourth position with teamate Charles Leclerc coming in at the top of the FP1 session.
- None of the Mercedes topped the session while Kimi secured fifth and Russell came in at sixth position.
- Max Verstappen showed improvements with their car giving that it is competitive.
Sprint Qualifying
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Charles Leclerc
- Double McLaren Sprint Qualification as Lando takes pole position for the Sprint in Miami.
- Kimi Antonelli ended the race with P2 but got demoted to P6 after the race because of penalty given to him due to violation of track limits.
Sprint
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Charles Leclerc
- Lando won the Sprint, ending Mercedes winning streak, from starting with pole position with teammate, Oscar coming in at P2 with double McLaren Sprint win.
- Kimi came in at P4 but received another penalty, dropping him to P6, with George finishing at P5 but resulting in a final 5th position after Kimi's demotion.
- Bortoleto was disqualified due to a technical nonconformity.
Qualifying
- Kimi Antonelli
- Max Verstappen
- Charles Leclerc
- Lando started from pole position but ended up at P4.
- Kimi Antonelli continues Mercedes qualifying win streak with topping at qualifying and secures pole position for the Miami Grand Prix.
- Max Verstappen again proves who deliveres consistent results at Miami with securing P2 in qualifying and starting the race from the front row.
- Charles Leclerc delivers consistent results with getting P3 at the qualifying session in Miami.
- Isack Hadjar disqualified after it was found that a small section of the left and right hand sides floorboard on his car were protruding out of the reference volume and therefore he will start the race from pit lane.
Miami Grand Prix
- Kimi Antonelli
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- George Russell
- Max Verstappen
- Charles Leclerc
- Lewis Hamilton
- Franco Colapinto
- Carlos Sainz
- Alex Albon
- Oliver Bearman
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Esteban Ocon
- Arvid Lindblad
- Fernando Alonso
- Sergio Perez
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
DNF Nico Hulkenberg
DNF Liam Lawson
DNF Pierre Gasly
DNF Isack Hadjar
- Kimi Antonelli wins the Miami Grand Prix, securing his third consecutive win (a hatrick) with Mercedes.
- Leclerc was defending his position with taking P1 from Antonelli after the race started and maintained position before he spun during his victory lap and later got penalized from the stewards which dropped him to P2.
- Hadjar had to start from the pit lane while serving a penalty due to disqualification in the qualifying session.
- A crash involving Gasly, Hadjar, Hulkenberg and Lawson got them a DNF but hopefully none of the drivers were left injured.
- Franco Colapinto secured P8, 3 points for Alpine, delivering his career best result and also a milestone for the team despite DNF of Gasly.
- Williams' drivers secured double points for the team with Sainz coming at P9 and Albon at P10.
- Max Verstappen performed better than the last races but dropped from P2 to P16, although teammate Isack Hadjar is starting to become the victim of the Red Bull Second Seat Curse.
- McLaren also showed improvements, showing that they will defend their 2025 title, with double podium.
Conclusion
Overall, this year's Miami Grand Prix was filled with chaos, drama and uncertain moments. From Max Verstappen finally being back to top 3 to slowly dropping to P16 during the race, from Charles Leclerc missed Grand Prix win, to Kimi Antonelli's Third Consecutive Grand Prix win. We got to see how many changes the team brought to the track after the break. McLaren are now looking ready to defend their 2025 World Champion Title. Williams and Alpine seem to be making progressive and positive changes to their car. Whereas Aston Martin and Cadillac are left suffering at the bottom half.
This race proved to us that the winners are not certain and many, many incidents and things can happen anytime.
After the Miami GP, we head to Montreal, Cananda for the 5th round that is after two weeks. The teams still have time to prepare and there is only one thing to remember and that is, everything is unpredictable.