Expected for the long first or second stint. Slower but durable. Teams who qualify on mediums may run hard to the end.

Expected to be the most-used compound. Balances pace and longevity. Most teams likely start on medium if starting from the midfield.

Everyone qualifies on soft. Soft stints in the race are short — high deg in Miami heat. If safety car comes, expect soft-shod gambles from drivers outside the points.

Optimal without a safety car. Pit around lap 18–22. Mercedes and McLaren with upgrades may manage tyres well enough to go 1-stop.

Safety car probability is 47%. If it comes before lap 30, expect everyone to pit for free. This is when the race order resets — Hamilton and Norris are the drivers best placed to benefit.

Miami is a sprint weekend. Saturday's sprint (19 laps) gives teams live tyre data before the main race. Teams will use the sprint to understand deg rates on each compound.

The most astonishing story in F1 right now. Kimi Antonelli is 19 years old, in his first season, leading the world championship in a Mercedes. He replaced Hamilton — and is outscoring him. Miami is his to lose. But young drivers under pressure at street circuits with safety cars… this is where championships unravel.

Lewis Hamilton moved to Ferrari this season after 12 years at Mercedes. He is 4th in the championship and 31 points off the lead. Miami is a circuit he has driven here many times. Ferrari have upgrades. Hamilton is motivated. This could be the race where he announces himself at his new team.

Verstappen has openly compared the 2026 Red Bull to Mario Kart — the homemade Red Bull engine loses power on straights and is unreliable. But Red Bull confirmed an engine upgrade for Miami. If it works, the long back straight here could be his hunting ground. Do not write him off.

Lando Norris won the 2024 Miami Grand Prix — his first ever F1 victory on this very circuit. McLaren also bring an upgrade package to Miami. He knows this track can make careers. The gap to Antonelli is 35 points — a win plus a bad weekend for Antonelli and the title race is on.

Mercedes have dominated the first 4 races but McLaren are closing. Both teams confirmed upgrade packages for Miami. The development war is heating up — this could be the race where McLaren close the gap to Mercedes on raw pace.

Norris overtook Verstappen late in the race to claim his first ever F1 victory. 3.6 million US viewers — the largest F1 audience in US history at that point. McLaren's revival began here.

Verstappen at the peak of his dominance. Won from pole by nearly 5 seconds in a race that was never in doubt. Red Bull were untouchable in 2023.

Miami joined the calendar to massive fanfare. Verstappen won again, but the race was chaotic — safety car, incidents at the bridge chicane, and a memorable backdrop of the Hard Rock Stadium. The circuit proved it could deliver drama.

No Miami GP has ever run without a safety car. The T14-T15 bridge chicane collects victims every year. This is the most reliable safety car circuit on the calendar.

The biggest F1 TV audience in US history. 2026 is the first season on Apple TV after years on ESPN — Miami is the showcase race for the new broadcast deal.