Welcome to the Miami Grand Prix – 2025
Collision “inevitable” at McLaren
McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes that a collision between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri is “inevitable”, as they fight for the championship. Ahead of this weekend where thirty-six points are on the table, Piastri leads his teammate by ten points as the season reaches a quarter distance having won three races from six, including the sprint in Shanghai.
Mclaren has at this stage made it very clear both are ‘free to race’ and there have been no major incidents, but like many Brown believes the collision will come and is looking forward to getting a clash out of the way. He told Sky Sports, “I think it’s definitely a matter of when, rather than if.”
“You have two racing drivers, whether in the same team or different team, that are next to each other for 24 races, someone’s going to lock a brake… So I’m kind of looking forward to getting it over with because I don’t think it’s going to be anywhere near as exciting as everybody thinks.”
“I think it will be a racing incident when that day comes. I think it’s inevitable. They’re two great characters. Neither of them are hotheads, so we’re not worried about it, and to a certain extent, kind of looking forward to just getting it out of the way.”
Brown’s comments suggest that when the ‘papaya rules,’ as the team call them, do get broken which they will, it says the team will not go into “meltdown” when it does happen.
Verstappen misses media day
Max Verstappen missed media day in Miami which has fuelled speculation that his partner Kelly Piquet has given birth or is due to give birth. Red Bull confirmed that the reigning champion would be missing the media day ahead of the race weekend.
A statement from the team read, “Max [Verstappen] will not be attending media day in Miami as he is expecting a baby. All is well and he will attend track tomorrow for the race weekend. We will not be offering any further comment at this time in respect towards the privacy of Max and his family.”
Shortly after the media release flight tracking data showed his plane leaving Nice on his way to Florida, this could mean the four-time champion and his partner have had their baby. It must be noted that there has been no official announcement on the birth of their child. However, these events strongly suggest this.
Though they are yet to confirm the gender of their baby, but there have been hints that they’re expecting a girl. A recent baby shower, taking place on the racing driver’s new yacht, was decorated in the colour pink, suggesting that the couple are welcoming another daughter into their family.
Talking Points Miami
Round six sees F1 head to the United States for the first time this season for the second sprint of 2025. Last year’s race in the Sunshine State provided a thriller that would go on to define the season’s storylines as Lando Norris took his first win.
Norris’ win ended a long drought for McLaren, whose last win was at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix with Daniel Ricciardo. The defending world champions have successfully capitalised on their success from 2024 and start the season leading both championships.
The 3.362-mile circuit is built around the home of NFL team Miami Dolphins at the Hard Rock Stadium complex and the track is a temporary street circuit. The circuit design went through a long period of trial and error with 36 proposed layouts before organisers settled on a 19-turn flowy track that utilises the stadium complex and has a street circuit feel.
McLaren goes into this weekend once again as favourites, but Norris looks to be on the backfoot already as teammate Oscar Piastri has won three of the opening races with the stats saying any driver with such a win rate in the first five races either won the championship or was already a champion.
Piastri has made a strong case for himself, forcing the public to reassess the pre-season expectations, he’s now the one that many experts and fans see as the title favourite. Apart from a minor but costly error in Melbourne, he hasn’t made a mistake but between now and Montreal in six weeks it will be interesting to see how he handles himself.
Meanwhile a year on from his maiden win Norris needs a strong weekend as his teammate has made a step up in performance again, by also proving he can deliver a strong and clean weekend a quarter of the way through the season.
This could be interesting for Red Bull, it’s a sprint weekend, which means limited practice time. Teams benefit from two parc fermé periods in the current format, but it’s still a challenge for Red Bull. Max Verstappen, has pointed out he needed to “try everything” before setting the car up and we only have an hour of practice before sprint qualifying.
While this is true for all the teams, Red Bull appears to have a narrower set-up window or correlation isn’t perfect. Also, they are competitive when tyre degradation is low, but McLaren thrives in hot conditions with high degradation.
Ferrari’s mixed season continues, on average it has been over three-tenths behind McLaren and Red Bull. Leclerc can deliver a spectacular qualifying performance on almost any weekend, and he’s already taken pole and a front-row start in Miami. But even so, it’s hard to imagine Leclerc – and even less so Hamilton, given his current form – holding off this season’s usual suspects for a full Grand Prix distance.
After Bahrain, Hamilton was feeling more upbeat about his understanding of this year’s Ferrari, after a strong middle stint where he said he started to click with the car. But in Jeddah that optimism had quickly disappeared, as Hamilton struggled to seventh place in both Qualifying and the race in Saudi Arabia, and stated his belief that he could be up against it all season.
This weekend is the first opportunity to put any solutions to the test, or at the very least continue Hamilton’s learning to try and find a better direction moving forward.
While Imola is the more logical place to bring upgrades given we have the sprint format and a street circuit, look what it did to McLaren last year. But with teams likely to front-load development prior to switching focus to 2026, Miami could still see some new parts arriving on cars after a week to finalise them between races.
This weekend could be difficult to bring upgrades as mistakes can be heavily punished, not only by damaging the car at that moment but also costing limited practice time, or impacting a competitive session.
Rewind Trump to Hollywood Podium
One of the surprises last year was the appearance of then-presumed Republican presidential candidate Doland Trump in the paddock in Miami. He was greeted with a remarkable and warm reception as he walked on the grid and was given a tour of the McLaren garage.
The fans chanted his name while Trump also told race winner Lando Norris that he was the Brit’s “lucky charm” as he won his maiden F1 race. It was the stuff from a Hollywood filmset.
It is unknown if President Trump will make an appearance this weekend, but the race in Miami marks the start of a crucial two months in North America The Miami race is becoming a real showpiece in F1’s calendar.
Over the past few years, it has attracted notable celebrities. Last year, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and Tesla and DOGE, X and Tesla boss, Elon Musk, both attended Saturday’s action.
The growth over the last decade in the US comes ahead of the biggest project under the ownership of Liberty Media – the movie, titled F1 and starring Brad Pitt, which will be launched globally on 25 June and in the United States and Canada on 27 June.
The success of the F1 movie is imperative for the category’s bosses as they chase the post-Drive to Survive popularity boom while also appealing to another audience demographic.
Its release can offer F1 a second wave of a popularity boost coming so soon after the Miami race. It comes immediately after the Canadian GP too, so it targets two crucial markets and broadens its appeal.
This year it comes against a wave of tariffs and a trade war with China, which Trump believes are necessary to address trading imbalances and to protect American jobs and manufacturing. Car imports from the EU which affects Mercedes, Ferrari and Alpine are at 20% while McLaren faces a 10% tariff.
Rao returns to the FIA
Former senior executive Shaila-Ann Rao has made a surprise return to the governing body the FIA just over two years after leaving. Rao, who in 2022 left her position as interim secretary general after just six months in the role, has been appointed adviser to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Rao who is a lawyer joined from Mercedes to be a general counsel to Ben Sulayem having been a special adviser to Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff. The announcement comes at the start o the 2025 FIA presidential election campaign ahead of December’s general election.
The Emirati contacted Rao himself about returning to the organisation. Rao’s re-appointment also comes in the wake of a series of controversies affecting Ben Sulayem over the three years of his presidency.
The most recent of these was the resignation of Deputy President for Sport Robert Reid this month, expressing concerns over the direction of the governance at the FIA under Ben Sulayem’s leadership.
On the same day, the former chief executive officer Natalie Robyn broke the silence she had kept since she being asked to leave the organisation last summer after just 18 months in her role. Robyn, too, expressed concerns about Ben Sulayem’s leadership.
Rao began her job on Thursday tasked with offering “advice to the FIA president on a range of issues including regulatory and commercial matters related to the seven FIA World Championships.”
In the statement, Ben Sulayem said: “Shaila-Ann Rao has an exceptional record in global motorsport and will be a great asset to me and my team as we continue to improve the regulatory and commercial frameworks across all the FIA World Championships, benefiting our drivers, teams and FIA member clubs. She will also advise me on matters related to all the FIA World Championship promoters.”
Rao said: “I am looking forward to advising the FIA president across the FIA World Championships and building on the significant progress that has already been made during his presidential term strengthening the Championships’ regulatory and commercial frameworks.
BBC News asked for more explanation for the circumstances surrounding Rao’s recruitment but the FIA has not yet responded.
Rao was unavailable for comment.
Wheatly looks for ‘big team mentally’ at Sauber/Audi
Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatly is aiming to install a big team mentality at Sauber before it completes its switch to Audi from 2026, although he admits it will take “years” to get to the top of F1. Wheatly joined the team formally this season having left Red Bull last season.
He is one of several names brought in by Audi to turn the tide ahead of the German manufacturer’s long-awaited debut next year, and having been integral to championship-winning efforts with both Renault (now Alpine) and Red Bull, him knowing what needs to change at Sauber.
Speaking to F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, asked about the biggest differences between Red Bull and Sauber he said, “Well, one of them is in Switzerland, the other one’s in Milton Keynes. It’s very, very different. I’m reminded of when I moved from Renault F1 to Red Bull back in 2006, that there’s a great spirit, but defined structures of how a racing team works when it becomes a big team.”
“The way you think as a big team compared with being a smaller team, and the overall, an overarching strategy for the next few years, very, very different outlooks. What I would say is that the biggest issue we face is headcounts increasing and office space isn’t. So there’s a lot of people crammed into small spaces at the moment, but there’s an expansion plan under way.”
Wheatley says there is a plan in place, the teams base would be a great message for the team as its shows that they are on a journey. But looking at expanding the workforce of the sports smallest team he says its about quality rather than quantity when it comes to staffing numbers.
Mexico signs new three-year deal
F1 and the Mexico City government have formally announced the race will remain on the calendar until 2028 after signing a new three year deal. Since its return after a nearly twenty-five-year hiatus in 2015, the race has established itself as one of the standout events of the year with its passionate fans and electric atmosphere.
Often co-insiding with the Day of the Dead and Halloween, the race shows the vibrancy and culture of the Mexican capital, where high-speed racing meets Day of the Dead celebrations and incredible live music from world-class acts. The multi-award winning event has become a favourite of fans, teams, and drivers alike, with every event sold out since its return to the calendar.
Stefano Domenicali, President & CEO of Formula 1, said: “We are very excited to announce that the Mexico City Grand Prix will continue to be part of our calendar until 2028. Formula 1 is energy, passion and emotion, and every year the unique atmosphere created by our fans in Mexico City is one of the most incredible and energetic experiences of our championship.
“I want to express my sincere thanks to President Claudia Sheinbaum for her strong commitment to Formula 1, to the Head of Government Clara Brugada for her continued support and to Alejandro Soberón Kuri, whose leadership has been fundamental to the success of this event. I also want to thank the local stakeholders and businesses that share our vision and who make this event so special.”
Promoter and CEO of CIE, Alejandro Soberon Kuri added “We are very excited to announce that the Mexico GP will be held for three more years. We are deeply grateful for the invaluable support of the Government of Mexico City, from the Head of Government of Mexico City, Clara Brugada, to our President, Claudia Sheinbaum, as well as Stefano Domenicali from Formula 1, who have made it possible to continue bringing Formula 1 to our country.”
Losing Tsunoda ‘a success’ – Mekies
Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies says losing Yuki Tsunoda to Red Bull has been a success, despite the fluctuating driver line-ups conflicting with the outfit’s performance targets.
Ahead of this season, the team were given “super ambitious targets” to fight in F1’s tighter upper midfield, which the team slowly but surely is succeeding in. Strategic decisions have cost the team points over the first couple of race weekends in 2025, but it has otherwise produced a car capable of fighting for points, a battle decided by extremely slim margins this year as Racing Bulls trades blows with the likes of Williams, Haas, Alpine and Aston Martin.
Another derailing factor was the swap between Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda afte just two races. Speaking to James Allen, Mekies said “Our main objective is competitiveness. Our second objective is to play our part in developing Red Bull drivers. Therefore, if and when our drivers are performing well enough to get the attention of the wider Red Bull family to the point to get promoted, it’s a success.”
“Now, sometimes the second objective is conflicting with the first objective, but nonetheless it was a success last year when we put on the table two drivers potentially able to go to Red Bull Racing.” He says Tsunoda’s promotion to Red Bull was a success given the way he has grown over the last four years.
Lawson returned to the squad for a third stint, having been up against it from day one to match the Red Bull last season’s F2 runner-up Isack Hadjar, who rapidly adapted to the demands of F1. Last time out, the New Zealander out-qualified Hadjar for the first time but still has work to do on race pace.