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.