Field will be closer, says Wolff
Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff believes the field will “be closer,” as the season resumes this weekend. The German manufacturer has won the first three grands prix this year, with George Russell taking the win in Australia and Kimi Antonelli following this up in China and Japan.
But following the spring break caused by the war in the Middle East, many expect a radically revised grid with nearly all the teams bringing effectively new cars, which could see a change in performances across the entire field. His Ferrari counterpart, Fred Vasseur, stated he expects Miami to be the ‘start of a new championship’, with some potentially big performance swings across the grid.
Wolff told Crash.net, “After a month without racing, we are ready to get back on track. We’ve used this break to analyse the opening races honestly, address our weaknesses and continue to raise our level.”
“We’ve started the season well, but that counts for very little if you stand still. We also know that our competitors will have used this time effectively to improve their packages and build a deeper understanding of their cars, so we expect the field to be closer in Miami. That’s the reality of F1; it’s a challenge we not only welcome but must rise to.”
The break was also used to introduce several tweaks to the regulations, in order to improve the qualifying spectacle, reduce ‘superclipping’, and address safety concerns in both the wet and at the start of races. The impact of the change might not be clear for three weeks in Montreal, which has longer straights.
Wolff added, “The regulatory tweaks are an evolution rather than a revolution, designed to build on the quality of racing we’ve seen so far while allowing the drivers to push to the limit. These changes respect the DNA of our sport, and I’m confident they will contribute to an even stronger spectacle going forward.”
Calls for Russell to remain calm
F1 commentator James Hitchcliff has called on George Russell to remain calm if he is beaten again at this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix. The Englishman who remains the favourite for the title finds himself nine points behind his teammate Kimi Antonelli after the opening three rounds, with the Italian posing a genuine threat.
While it’s two wins each, Antonelli has won two Grand Prix, while Russell has won one Grand Prix and a sprint. However, Russell lost out in Suzuka after the timing off the safety car while in Shanghai, technical issues hampered his GP Qualifying session, both costing him points.
Heading into this weekend, Hinchcliffe has argued that Russell should not panic if Antonelli beats him at the Miami International Autodrome. He explained on the F1 Nation podcast, “He does, but I don’t think it’s quite as pressing time-wise as people are making it seem. We’re in round four. There’s a lot of racing to go.”
“Just look back at last year after the summer break, you had a 34-point deficit between Piastri and Norris. And by Mexico, Norris had taken the championship lead back. So, a nine-point gap in Miami, I don’t think should stress anybody out.”
“Yes, you don’t want Kimi getting too much confidence. You don’t want him winning in every type of circuit and getting on too much of a roll. But even if, like Piastri had that string of tracks that didn’t suit him particularly well in the latter part of last year, and it added to the drop in performance right as Norris was peaking. If Kimi is particularly good at Miami, fine.”
At least sixteen rounds are remaining, because of the situation in the Gulf, when we get into June, I think that’s when the pressure will begin and certainly in September, when we get into the more regular rhythm of races. The first three months, for reasons beyond the sports control, have been slower.
Russell went into this season saying he is “ready” for a title challenge, as Hinchcliffe says he doesn’t need to panic, as that’s when you are likely to make mistakes.
Verstappen’s future not affected by Lambiase’s departure
Red Bull CEO and team principal Laurent Mekies says Max Verstappen’s decision on his future in F1 will not be affected by the impending departure of his close ally and race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.
During the break, it was announced that Lambiase would leave the team by 2028, to join McLaren as chief racing officer. Mekies said Lambiase’s departure was “absolutely not” a factor in Verstappen’s thinking about whether to stay in F1 amid his dissatisfaction with the behaviour of the new engines introduced this year.
Mekies told BBC News, “Obviously, we speak with Max every day. And Max knows motorsport upside down. He’s living and breathing this team. He knows most of these guys. He understands very well the dynamics that can happen. The team has been extremely successful, and you can’t promote everyone. And some people make some decisions.”
Verstappen has been vocal in his criticism of the new power unit regulations and has even threatened to walk away. But the Frenchman says the rule changes introduced for this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix would go some of the way to addressing the drivers’ key concerns.
The changes are designed primarily to reduce the danger of excessive closing speeds when one car is deploying electrical energy and one is harvesting it, as well as reduce the danger of excessive closing speeds when one car is deploying electrical energy and one is harvesting it.
Mekies added, “It’s going in the right direction. We don’t think it’s changing any pecking order. Nobody pretends it’s going to fix everything, but it’s a good step, and we will certainly support more steps in the future so that the drivers can be flat-out out there.”
However, there appears to be a consensus that while this is a step in the right direction, there has been the view that “hardware changes” were needed to properly address the problems that had emerged with the new engines. Stella was referring to an adjustment of the power ratio so that more was provided by the internal combustion engine.
This is likely changing the 50:50 split between ICE and energy recovery to a 60:40 ratio by changing the fuel-flow rate to the ICE. But the Italian suggested there should be consideration for hardware changes in the long term, to reduce compromises from a chassis or driving point of view.
This option, if carefully configured, could also allow the sport to keep the operation of the boost and overtaking modes made possible by the electrical elements, much as they are now.
Last Time Out … Suzuka
FP1 saw George Russell set the fastest time with a 31.666, which put him a quarter of a second ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli. Mercedes’ gap appeared to slightly narrow with Lando Norris a tenth and a quarter further behind, as McLaren made a decent start to the weekend, Oscar Piastri seven hundredths further behind.
FP2 was topped by Piastri, who set a 30.113, putting his McLaren just under a tenth faster than Antonelli with the second Mercedes of Russell just over a tenth further behind. Norris was fourth ahead of the Ferrari duo, with Charles Leclerc two tenths behind, followed by Lewis Hamilton.
FP3 saw Antonelli go fastest with a 29.362, which put him a quarter of a second faster than Russell. But Mercedes looked to have a six-tenths advantage over Leclerc after their soft run; the Ferraris were split by Piastri, who was two hundredths faster than Hamilton.
Qualifying, Antonelli beat Russell to pole by just under three tenths as he set 28.778 on his first attempt of the decisive shootout. Russell, on the other hand, was compromised by issues with grip in Q1 and Q2. Piastri was third and at one stage leading Q2, but he was no match for Mercedes, with him six tenths behind Russell. Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari between the McLarens, the Monacan was just under three tenths behind Piastri.
Antonelli took a 13-second win ahead of Piastri despite initially losing out to Piastri and slipping to sixth, and was able to take advantage of a safety car caused by a heavy crash by Ollie Bearman. Russell was left fuming after the incident, and pit stop dropped him behind Piastri and Leclerc.
The Mercedes tracked Piastri within a second for several laps and then overtook him into the chicane on lap eight, only for the McLaren to move back past down the pit straight at the start of the following lap. But that was the only time he was able to get close as the McLaren driver’s confidence built.
Talking Points Miami
After the five-week ‘spring break’, F1 is back with the second sprint weekend of the season in Florida. Mercedes dominated the opening three rounds in March, though Ferrari has been on the podium at every race this year. The break has also seen a long list of revisions to the technical and power unit regulations.
The sole practice session has been extended to ninety minutes to give teams and drivers extra track time following the break, and to adjust to the rules changes that are being implemented from this weekend.
Kimi Antonelli is the youngest driver in F1 history to lead the drivers’ championship following his victory in Japan at the end of March. He leads by nine points over teammate George Russell.
The Miami International Autodrome is tricky, given that it’s one where you need to balance risk versus reward. Its design was a result of seventy-five designs and thirty-six simulations; the designer wanted to create a circuit which maximised the space and created opportunities for overtaking. The three main straights, followed by herd-breaking zones, the circuit often being the main opportunity for overtaking, with two of them being good for overtaking, but that isn’t without risk.
The normal caveats apply there, with the high chances of safety cars, red flags and yellow flags, meaning the normal strategy variations. But this, to me, feels like a go-kart circuit, but one of very high spec; we are beginning to see it come almost the standard in the sport.
Will Russell be able to fight back, as the expectation was, he could cruise into an easy championship lead at the start of the season, may have been a little surprised to see Kimi Antonelli atop the drivers’ championship. Antonelli’s lead is only nine points, and much of that can be attributed to Russell’s worse luck with reliability (China qualifying) and strategy (Japan), but it’s also fair to give the Italian teen credit for taking a big step over the off-season.
Russell will want to reassert his authority as the ‘senior’ driver at Mercedes. On outright pace, the Briton is ahead: his supertime from the opening three rounds is 0.112% short of the theoretical best, while Antonelli is 0.230% away, but the Italian is 2-1 ahead in grand prix qualifying.
McLaren goes into this weekend bringing phase one of an “entirely new MCL40” by Montreal, while all the teams are bringing upgrades, this could be a warning as the team rapidly developed over the previous cycle. They have had a mixed start, but a strong weekend at Suzuka moved them into third, but it’s a whole different challenge given the advantage of Mercedes.
The car itself is set to be “entirely” different, too. Three years ago, McLaren’s revival began with a major Miami upgrade – and the momentum never really slowed.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull need an even more dramatic turnaround, there best result so far is sixth for the four-time world champion in Melbourne. Crucially, its struggles have not come from its new status as a power unit manufacturer, but from a chassis plagued by balance issues and, at times, appearing almost undrivable even by Verstappen’s standards.
If there isn’t a turnaround soon, the team could find itself confident to the midfield for the rest of the season, fighting with Haas and Alpine.
Cadillac will make its home debut under far greater pressure than it witnessed in its first three races. In Miami, the team gets a real benchmark of where it stands – not just with fans, but with the US market as a whole. It goes into its first home race at the back with an inconsistent car, which has been fragile and lacks pace.
At the same time, both drivers and the team itself are still in an adaptation phase, and that learning curve needs to accelerate quickly, especially with the spotlight intensifying at home.
The long-standing American team has had its best start to a season in its decade in the sport, Haas has equalled its debut season with fourth in 2016. The American outfit has simply produced a solid VF-26, featuring a reliable chassis powered by a highly efficient Ferrari engine. While many of its midfield rivals have endured sluggish starts to the year, Haas has been able to just plough on, and if anything, it could easily have more points to its name.
However, they lost two double point scoring opportunities, one by driver error when Esteban Ocon was given a penalty for his collision with Franco Colapinto. The spotlight must really be on Ocon to improve, as the veteran grand prix winner only has one point this season, and more should be expected.
He is in the final year of his contract, and questions surrounding his future will start being raised if Ocon fails to turn the situation around. It is a contrasting situation on the other side of the garage, as Ollie Bearman is in fine form, sitting seventh in the drivers’ standings with a best result of fifth in China.
- Read more on the technical regulation changes
Why could a US law force race to be cancelled?
This weekend’s race could be cancelled or abandoned if the weather forecast is accurate because of US law. The current forecast for Sunday is an 88% chance of rain on Sunday and a 53% chance of thunderstorms.
It is precisely that last figure that has teams and drivers on alert. Unlike in other countries, US law requires major outdoor public events, such as a Grand Prix, to be halted if thunderstorms are approaching and there is a risk of lightning strikes. In this instance, the medical helicopter would be unable to fly, with the venue being considered dangerous for spectators.
In such instances, the medical helicopter would not be able to fly, and it would also be considered dangerous for spectators, who would need to leave the venue. Therefore, if rain arrives with thunderstorms over the weekend, even without a heavy downpour flooding the circuit, the race could be stopped with a red flag, and the drivers would have to return to the pit lane.
A directive for US rounds allows the teams to bring the cars under these circumstances into the garages and work on them during a red flag, instead of having to work on them outdoors in the pit lane.
Last year, the FIA reminded teams that, “under the authority granted to the stewards by articles 11.9.2.a and 11.9.3.n of the FIA international sporting code,” and according to local public safety regulations, the race may be suspended due to the risk of lightning at or near the circuit, to allow all personnel to take shelter safely.
If the race were to be suspended, teams would be informed through the official messaging system that the cars must be pushed from the fast lane into their garages. The garage doors would remain open until further notice. Any car already in the garage at the moment the race is suspended, or any car moved from the fast lane to another part of the pit lane before receiving those instructions, would be placed at the back of the queue before the restart.
Normal rules apply to work on the cars under a red flag. Once the race director considers it safe to resume, and at least eighteen minutes before the scheduled restart, the restart order will be published.
At that point, under the supervision of the FIA technical delegate or their representative, each team will be instructed in turn to push their car(s) into the fast lane so they can line up according to the published restart order. Once all cars in the restart order are lined up in the fast lane, any car not included in that order may leave the garage and join at the back of the line, in the order in which it arrives.
McLaren’s 1,000th 998th Race weekend
McLaren kick-started what should have been their 1,000th Grand Prix weekend with a showcase display of title-winning cars driven by champions past and present on the streets of Miami on Wednesday. Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri joined double champions Mika Hakkinen and Emerson Fittipaldi in thrilling the fans ahead of what would have been a 1,000th grand prix celebration, but for conflict in the Middle East.
The actual 1,000th Grand Prix will now take place in Monaco, with Friday in Montreal being the sixtieth anniversary of their Grand Prix debut in Monte Carlo in 1966. Meaning three huge milestones for the team across the next three weekends.
Norris said, “We were meant, obviously, to celebrate it here. It’s nice that I’ve played a small part in that, but today is also a day where you get to see all the cars, the history, the drivers that have driven for McLaren. It’s a big milestone, and I’m very proud of it.”
Fittipaldi, McLaren’s first champion in 1974, drove a V8-engined McLaren M23 similar to the one that took the late James Hunt to the 1976 crown. He added, “I was the first one, I made a small part of McLaren history but then McLaren has a huge history and I’m very proud to be here.”
Hakkinen, the 1998 and 1999 champion, shook the ground with his V10-powered MP4-14 while Bruno Senna, nephew of triple champion Ayrton, drove his uncle’s MP4/6 with its ear-splitting V12.
McLaren has won the last two Miami Grands Prix, Piastri last year and Norris in 2024, and Sunday could complete a hat-trick, although Mercedes have been dominant since the start of a new engine and rules era.
The Australian was cautious in offering any prediction, however, ahead of a weekend that could also see some thunderstorms and that will also be the first test of the rules since they were tweaked. Piastri said, “I think last year, and even 2024, we had a really big advantage around a place like this and this year we don’t have that, so we’ll have to wait and see.”
“I think it’s going to be a weekend full of changes and trying to get on top of things better than everybody else. And if we can do that then there’s still going to be opportunities to finish higher than maybe where you should.”
McLaren has yet to announce revised plans for the actual 1,000th Grand Prix and Montreal.
Alonso indicates he wants
Fernando Alonso has indicated for the first time that he wants to stay in F1 beyond this season. The Spaniard, who is out of contract at the end of the season, said at last weekends Historic Monaco Grand Prix, that 2026 would be “hopefully not the last season”.
Previously, Alonso had only said that he would consider his future during this year, that it would be harder to retire if his car was not competitive, and that he would head into 2026 thinking it would be his final year. Speaking to host broadcaster AMC, he said, “I love what I do. I love racing. I did my first race when I was three years [old], and I am 44, so 41 years of my life I have been behind a steering wheel.”
“So the moment I have to stop racing, it will be very hard decision and difficult to accept. The time will tell. I will feel it. At the moment, I don’t feel it is that time yet. I feel competitive, I feel motivated, I feel happy when I drive. So, yeah, hopefully not the last season.”
Aston Martin team headed into the year with high hopes – it was their first season as works engine partner with former world champions Honda, and design legend Adrian Newey had joined the team in March last year.
But they have had a difficult start, which you read about in the next article.
If Alonso were to retire at the end of this or next season, the team has several options to replace him. However, the two-time champion is unlikely to want to end his over quarter of a century F1 career on a poor season, meaning he might go into 2027 looking for an upturn for a long goodbye.
Where it’s gone wrong for Honda
Honda went into this season with high expectations, and Aston Martin looked to continue their vision of fighting for championships, but there has been a harsh reality a poorly performing power unit and difficulties with the chassis. The situation has been made even more complicated by the fact that the AMR26 has logged very little track time compared to its rivals.
The Honda power unit has been the least competitive engine on the grid, both in terms of power and reliability, amid a reorganisation of the working group following its previous success with Red Bull. Since the Sakhir test, it has continued to develop the package along with Aston Martin, as it is a whole package issue.
Honda engineers have repeatedly explained that the engine vibrations are not caused solely by the PU itself, but are amplified by the chassis, which effectively behaves like a resonance chamber. It is therefore no surprise that Andy Cowell was moved from his team principal role to act as a bridge between Silverstone and Sakura.
The battery issues have already seen it use several batteries, and the drivers physically struggling to complete a race distance. But at Suzuka, the first corrective measures arrived and the Spaniard finally managed to finish a race in 2026. It was a step forward, but the road to solving the issue remains long.
Following the last race, thanks to the break, the power unit was taken to the Sakura factory for more extensive dyno bench testing. Since the start of the season, Honda engineers had already kept a complete monocoque at Sakura for dyno testing, essential for reproducing what happens on track without physically running on a circuit, with support from Aston Martin engineers who had been sent there.
That gave them two opportunities to study the vibration phenomenon under more realistic conditions and develop more targeted countermeasures to try to contain it.
Honda F1 trackside general manager Shintaro Orihara explained, “It has been a long but intense period between the races with lots of work happening in collaboration with Aston Martin F1 both in Japan and in the UK.”
“The Japanese Grand Prix showed that the work is going in the right direction and helped us to find the motivation to keep pushing forward. After that race, we took the opportunity to keep one of the AMR26 cars on site for further static testing in Sakura for the first time, focusing our efforts on reducing the vibrations and thus increasing reliability.”
These improvements should arrive this weekend but Orihara says that they aren’t expecting to see them on track because of the nature of the circuit, which means setup is a compromise.
Regarding performance goals, aside from unlocking power, there is still considerable room for improvement on the software side, where the parameters allow more freedom of action. However, it should be remembered that from a certain point in the season onward, software updates will also be limited, so each intervention will need to be planned more carefully.
Orihara added “On the power unit side, it’s about improving driveability through the slow speed sector. Optimising energy management in this section is a key factor to maximise performance.”
Williams delays expose ‘weaknesses’ – Albon
Alex Albon explained that the team’s delayed start to the 2026 season exposed weaknesses in the business. Delays in manufacturing meant the team missed the first test in Barcelona, putting it on the back foot when official testing began in Sakhir. After battling an overweight car in the opening three rounds of the season, Williams currently sits ninth in the constructors’ championship with two points.
During an interview with Up To Speed, Albon opened up about the frustrations within the team at the start of the year after coming off the back of a strong 2025. The James Vowles-led team finished fifth in the 2025 constructors’ championship, and Albon’s team-mate Carlos Sainz secured two podiums in Azerbaijan and Qatar.
He explained, “It was a bit of a frustration for all of us, really. If you think about how every year it feels like things are going forward and then, as we got into this year, it was looking positive, and then the last few months before we got going, things got delayed and one thing led to another and suddenly we were really on the back foot.”
“It’s not where I believe we belong, but at the same time, it’s in many ways exposed some areas that we have been weak as a business, and so we need to figure out why this regulation change put us so far on the back foot.”
Albon pointed to the previous cycle where the cars were changing a lot and as they were being upgraded Williams were getting better and better.
When asked if missing the Barcelona testing was a big deal, the Thai-British driver added: “It all matters. The valuable track time, especially with the lack of testing. Obviously, for us as well in FP1, FP2 and FP3, now, so much of that time is spent on deployment and working on the software basically of the car.”
“You can’t afford that many rake runs, aero testing runs. We do all these kinds of things in a shakedown. We couldn’t really do much of it, so we still do it now. And I think that’s just a bit of a residue of missing testing.”
