The championship resumed in Miami after an unexpected five-week break that followed the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds. The FIA introduced targeted measures at Miami to help flat-out qualifying laps after the switch to a 50% electric hybrid formula, to reduce unwanted closing-speed differentials, to curb so-called “superclipping” and to improve wet- and start-safety. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said the changes were intended to encourage more overtakes. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff called the adjustments an “evolution” and said officials were “acting with a scalpel.” Organizers and teams warned some technical effects, especially those linked to energy-harvesting deployment, may not become apparent until later rounds such as the Canadian Grand Prix (May 22-24).

Teams used the five-week development window to push rival upgrade programmes in different directions, making Miami a high-stakes technical crossroads. Mercedes, which had won the opening three races and the Shanghai Sprint, brought a deliberately limited package to Miami and prioritized a larger upgrade targeted for the Canadian Grand Prix. Mercedes staff said they had brought “barely” any upgrades and expected roughly a three-tenths buffer. Antonelli said that approach would give rivals clearer signs of how long Mercedes’ dominance might last. Commentator Jolyon Palmer warned Mercedes risked “standing still” in the development race.

Ferrari and McLaren moved aggressively. Ferrari introduced a substantial update in Miami and aimed to use the first additional development upgrade opportunity window to secure engine upgrade chances. McLaren split its upgrade programme and promised a “completely new car” for Miami. Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton said he felt “fired up” for the restart but warned his team remained down on power compared with Mercedes and “probably the Ford” power unit, making the deficit hard to close without new engines. Commentators such as Martin Brundle predicted an “absolutely wild” three-way fight among Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes.

The weekend also carried political and regulatory stakes. Officials said they would soon decide whether any of the five power-unit manufacturers would receive catch-up upgrades, a process that has sparked debate involving Wolff and Red Bull’s Laurent Mekies. Wolff and others suggested the rule and energy tweaks were likely to tighten the field and produce a “stronger spectacle,” while some teams and observers warned the fixes may not fully restore previous performance levels. Miami therefore represented an early test of whether aerodynamic updates, power-unit catch-up decisions and the FIA’s mid-season fine-tuning can meaningfully change the competitive balance and improve safety as the season moves toward Canada.

Ferrari fixed a systems-related straight-line power loss that affected Lewis Hamilton at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, carrying the correction into the Miami Grand Prix weekend. Hamilton said the problem was not caused solely by Ferrari’s power unit but by a combination of systems and that the fault cost him roughly eight to nine tenths of straight-line speed. He reported a loss of power on track and asked his engineer for help with battery deployment during the race. A safety car initially put him third, but he slipped to sixth after being overtaken by several cars, including his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, who did not suffer the issue and finished third. Hamilton finished 25 seconds behind race winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli and entered Miami fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, eight points behind Leclerc.

Ferrari used the enforced break between rounds to conduct a deep-dive investigation, traced the root cause beyond the power unit, and implemented a fix ahead of the Miami Grand Prix. The team and Hamilton carried out simulator work and factory training aimed at identifying and resolving the systems interactions responsible for the straight-line deficit. Charles Leclerc also spent days in the factory and many simulator sessions correlating race data, testing the upgrades and adapting to the new cars and rules. Ferrari consolidated those development efforts into planned upgrades designed to improve competitiveness under the new regulations. With Hamilton’s specific issue resolved, the team said it may present a stronger challenge to the Mercedes duo in Miami.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms forecast for Sunday have put the 2026 Miami Grand Prix at the Miami International Autodrome under serious threat, with forecasts putting the chance of rain between roughly 70 percent and 88 percent and thunderstorm probability from about 53 percent up to 85 percent. AccuWeather and other forecasters used by teams show Friday and Saturday staying mostly dry, but rain and thunderstorms are expected to increase through Sunday afternoon ahead of the scheduled 4 p.m. start. Organizers and authorities warned that intense storms could prevent the mandatory FIA medical helicopter from flying, and under U.S. safety rules and OSHA-related obligations major outdoor events must be halted if lightning is imminent.

The forecast has prompted an operational response from race officials, teams and drivers. The FIA is closely monitoring conditions and has contingency plans ready, and drivers planned a meeting with the FIA to discuss possible schedule changes, including starting the race earlier on Sunday or, less likely, moving it to Saturday, a shift that would conflict with the Sprint and qualifying timetable. Teams are weighing tactical implications because the sprint-format weekend gives limited track time to adapt car setup and energy-deployment rules, and support categories could see disrupted running.

If a suspension is ordered before running, spectators would be directed to shelter and the medical helicopter would be grounded. If the race has already started, officials could deploy a red flag; a race-specific rule at the U.S. rounds allows teams to bring cars into garages and work on them during thunderstorm-related red flags rather than in the open pit lane, a change that could affect the timing of any restart. Drivers and team personnel expressed concern about handling the new cars in wet conditions, with Sergio Perez saying the situation was “looking really bad” and Oscar Piastri warning the newest cars will be difficult to handle in heavy rain and that few drivers have rain experience with them. Organizers also evoked safety lessons from the sport’s past, including the grounding of evacuation helicopters as a safety trigger after the fatal 2014 crash of Jules Bianchi and last year’s Miami Sprint delay and Charles Leclerc’s installation-lap crash when conditions deteriorated. With forecasts diverging and conditions liable to change rapidly, officials, teams and spectators will need to wait on updated weather information before the FIA confirms any schedule adjustment.

Valtteri Bottas says repeated team orders at Mercedes pushed him close to walking away from Formula 1. In columns for The Players’ Tribune he revisited the 2018 season, recalling when Mercedes strategist James Vowles told him to slow and yield the lead at the Russian Grand Prix and when he was instructed not to attack Lewis Hamilton at the German Grand Prix. Bottas says those episodes left him depressed and considering retirement during the 2018-19 winter break, and after a long walk in a Finnish forest he reversed course, signed a contract extension in July 2018 and opened 2019 with a dominant win in Australia.

Bottas also says he nearly quit again after being replaced following the 2024 season. He spent all of 2025 out of the sport before returning to the 2026 F1 grid with newcomer Cadillac. He frames his comeback as a desire to help build Cadillac by supplying experience and stability to a new outfit that is still seeking its first championship point. He marked his first race for Cadillac at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai with a 13th-place finish, and wrote that Toto Wolff privately approached him after the race to praise the job he and Cadillac had done.

In a first-person feature titled “Born Crazy” and other Players’ Tribune pieces, Bottas traces the ups and downs of his career, including early efforts to help Williams, three years at Alfa Romeo, a spell as a Mercedes reserve, and the seasons that followed. He reminds readers of his record, 10 Grand Prix wins, two world championship runner-up finishes, 20 pole positions and 67 podiums, and he blends race detail, career reflection and interpersonal context to explain how low points, cancelled races and near-retirement decisions shaped his determination to return to the grid with Cadillac.

Racing Bulls unveiled a special yellow “Summer Edition” livery and matching team kit ahead of the 2026 Miami Grand Prix. The team described the look as a “summer-sun yellow” treatment inspired by Red Bull’s Summer Edition Sudachi Lime, and the scheme replaces Racing Bulls’ traditional white-and-blue identity for a one-off Miami appearance. Descriptions of the finish varied among observers, with some calling it yellow-and-black and others noting a vivid yellow-and-chrome scheme with a citrus-texture pattern, and the design features prominent Red Bull branding on the engine cover.

The reveal was staged as a visual PR moment as the Racing Bulls car cruised into Kiki On The River by yacht, and drivers Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad first saw the new design while riding Ski-Doos on the water. The yellow theme extended across the garage, with the drivers set to wear yellow overalls and mechanics and trackside staff in matching apparel. CEO Peter Bayer said Miami is a special place for the team to express its identity and that the livery “injects vibrant energy and demonstrates a willingness to push creative boundaries,” and the team framed the change as a branding statement rather than a technical update.

Paddock observers immediately compared the treatment to Jordan’s bright yellow liveries from the late 1990s and early 2000s, a resemblance some noted felt more resonant following the passing of Jordan founder Eddie Jordan in March 2025. The Miami special follows Racing Bulls’ recent practice of one-off designs, such as a cherry blossom livery in Japan, and drew contrast with rival presentations, including Cadillac’s more monochrome appearance and its updated home Grand Prix livery that adds the Star Spangled Banner across the rear flanks as a nod to U.S. roots.

Oscar Piastri told the High Performance podcast that he and teammate Lando Norris deliberately protected the McLaren team environment during their heated 2025 intra-team title fight to avoid long-term damage. He described tense on-track incidents, including his surge in Saudi Arabia, team orders at the Italian Grand Prix asking him to give Norris second place, collisions in Canada, contact at the Singapore start, an incident in the United States Sprint and an on-track episode in Mexico. Piastri said those moments usually ended with cordial exchanges, private resolutions and a handshake. He warned that if the rivalry had turned ‘nasty’ it could have threatened one of them not wearing McLaren’s papaya orange in 2026.

Piastri credited McLaren’s culture of full data sharing and accountability with keeping tensions under control. He said drivers generally continued to cooperate and share information across the garage, and that openness and clear responsibility helped contain conflict through the season.

The title fight tested the team but held firm. Piastri led by 32 points into the summer break after a Zandvoort win, while Norris retired there and then mounted a late comeback that culminated in a decisive Abu Dhabi victory to take the 2025 Drivers’ Championship. Norris finished 13 points ahead of Piastri, with Max Verstappen between them, and McLaren placed third in the Constructors’ Championship.

Piastri said the episode showed future title fights will again test team harmony. He believes professionalism and pragmatic teamwork persisted into races such as Suzuka and when the season resumed in Miami.

Red Bull sporting boss Laurent Mekies said Max Verstappen’s decision will not be affected by recent staff departures and confirmed the driver is contracted through 2028. Mekies said he speaks with Verstappen daily and called him someone who “lives and breathes” the team. He answered “Absolutely not” when asked whether recent exits raise the chance Verstappen will leave, and he noted the driver has publicly expressed unhappiness with the new 2026 hybrid power unit and has signaled he is considering his F1 future. Mekies also reminded reporters that Verstappen’s deal contains performance clauses that could permit an earlier exit if he is not in the top two by the summer break.

Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen’s race engineer since May 2016, has agreed to join McLaren as chief racing officer by 2028, Red Bull said. Red Bull added Lambiase will remain at the team until the end of 2027, though media reports say McLaren is trying to secure him sooner. Mekies described the departures as routine evolution, said the leavers are a small portion of the workforce and called morale at Red Bull’s Milton Keynes base fantastic. He pointed to internal promotions and heavy recruiting, saying the team hired roughly 120 people this year and about 400 in the last nine months.

Mekies conceded the team has work to do after a difficult start to the season, with Verstappen ninth in the standings after three races and a best finish of sixth. He estimated Red Bull faced about a one-second-per-lap deficit to the front-runners and attributed roughly 0.3 seconds of that gap to Red Bull’s in-house power unit. Red Bull will bring a major upgrade to the Miami Grand Prix that Verstappen tested at Silverstone, targeting aerodynamic and chassis weaknesses. Formula 1 has adjusted power-unit rules in the five weeks since the Japan race, and Mekies said short-term tweaks ahead of Miami should help qualifying energy management and closing-speed differentials, while longer-term hardware changes such as increasing fuel flow toward a roughly 60:40 internal combustion to electrical split remain under consideration. The Miami Sprint weekend, featuring a 19-lap Sprint and a 57-lap Grand Prix, is being treated as an early test of whether the rule tweaks and upgrades help close the gap and influence Verstappen’s long-term decision.

Martin Brundle publicly backed Lewis Hamilton’s chances with Ferrari in 2026, saying Hamilton’s improved form, better adaptation to the 2026 regulations and a major upgrade package due at the Miami Grand Prix make him capable of winning races and mounting a title challenge. Brundle cited Hamilton’s stronger start to 2026, including his first Ferrari podium in China, and said the new car characteristics suit Hamilton better than last year’s machines. He described the Miami upgrade as a potential turning point for Ferrari.

Brundle contrasted that brighter start with Hamilton’s difficult 2025 debut at Ferrari. Hamilton finished sixth in the drivers’ standings and, for the first time in his career, failed to score a podium. Ferrari slipped from second to fourth in the 2025 constructors’ championship.

Teams began 2026 with Mercedes dominant in the opening races, Kimi Antonelli leading the drivers’ standings and George Russell close behind. Ferrari sit as Mercedes’ closest challengers, with Charles Leclerc third and Hamilton fourth, the latter running closer to Leclerc this year. Brundle said the Miami weekend felt like a ‘relaunch’ of the season after the development break, noting the Miami Sprint and Grand Prix points and the expected parts could reshuffle the pecking order and that rival upgrades might allow teams to leapfrog others. He warned Hamilton will still need to beat teammate Charles Leclerc consistently inside Ferrari to mount a genuine title bid and said the championship remained ‘totally wide open,’ framing his comments as an endorsement rather than a definitive prediction.

Honda’s trackside general manager Shintaro Orihara warned ahead of the Miami Grand Prix that upgrades due in Miami will not produce any major or visible improvements to Aston Martin’s engine performance. He said the 2026 Honda power unit has been underperforming and has suffered reliability problems and severe vibrations, issues that have disrupted performance and consistency. The AMR26 has managed just one finish in four events, including China’s Sprint.

Teams had hoped a five-week F1 break imposed after escalations in the Middle East would allow Honda to resolve the flaws, but work during that pause and countermeasures introduced before Suzuka produced only limited gains. Honda and Aston Martin carried out intensive collaboration, including static testing at Honda’s Sakura facility and work in Japan and the UK, and applied fixes that produced some progress. Expectations were high around Adrian Newey’s first Aston Martin design.

Orihara said further fixes will be applied in Miami and later in the season, but he does not expect a noticeable jump in power-unit performance at Miami. He pointed to Miami’s track profile, with long full-throttle sections, many slow-speed corners and high ambient temperatures, and to the Sprint weekend’s single 90-minute practice session as factors that complicate efforts to improve driveability, energy management and cooling. Under the new regulations Honda and Aston Martin are prioritizing driveability, energy management and cooling over headline power gains, meaning any recovery is likely to come through patient, incremental improvements rather than a sudden turnaround at Miami.