Welcome to Miami

Sprinting in the Sunshine StateSprinting in the Sunshine State

Sweeping around the imposing Hard Rock Stadium, the Miami Grand Prix is a modern showpiece event on the F1 calendar. It is loud, it is crowed, it is impossible to move, and the garages offer the only sanctuary of calm to be found amid the whirl of music, fashion, art and food.

The challenging, 19-turn, purpose-built temporary circuit provides the stage for a thrilling Sprint weekend in the 305, which also includes the ultra-competitive, all-female F1 Academy series on the support billing where Aston Martin Aramco driver squad member Tina Hausmann will be behind the wheel.

After a Saudi Arabian Grand Prix where the team split strategies and missed out on points by a whisker, we've had a chance to regroup, with a week back at base – but Miami doesn't offer an opportunity to ease into things gently: we're back on the Sprint weekend format, which means everyone needs to be at their very best from the moment the pitlane opens. It's a frantic weekend in Florida.

TRACK INSIGHTS

Miami International AutodromeMiami International Autodrome

Miami is an absolute vibe. It's a great circuit that's got a bit of everything.

Jessica Hawkins - Driver Ambassador & Head of F1 Academy

Toggle below to highlight parts of the track.

Sectors
Turns
DRS

Circuit length
5.412km
Number of corners
19
Race distance
308.326km

NEED TO KNOW: MIAMI GP

The essential Miami travel guide with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Miami GP race page - the circuit carousel

Mastering Miami International Autodrome

The magic of racing in Miami

Strategy Insights from the Sunshine State

Ultimate Miami Grand Prix facts

Last time out

The essential Miami travel guide with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

What can you do in Miami? Whatever you want, really. Whenever Formula One talked about wanting to move races closer to the fans, the vibrant cityscape of Miami was very much the location they had in mind. Plan A of a downtown race around the Port didn't work out, but Plan B at the Hard Rock Stadium is succeeding beyond everyone's wildest dreams.

It does make this something of a two-centre race, with teams putting on downtown events in the mornings and evenings around visits to the track up in Miami Gardens. The Arts & Entertainments District is popular, but most of the action tends to happen in and around South and Miami Beaches, with their array of stylish art deco restaurants, hotels, exhibition spaces and, of course, sparkling blue sea, yacht-laden marinas, and miles of golden beaches.

There is more to Florida than Miami, and being a standalone race, it's given many in the paddock an opportunity to perhaps arrive a day early or leave a day late and explore. Disneyworld hasn't been top of the list, but many, many golf balls have been hit – though it's a brave golfer prepared to look for a ball at the edge of a water hazard here, given the local wildlife. There have been so many race engineers heading for Cocoa Beach and the John F. Kennedy Space Centre, to see a Saturn V rocket and Space Shuttle Atlantis, Formula One really should have laid on a coach.

This is also a state with a strong racing heritage. The circuits of Sebring, Daytona and Homestead aren't exactly local to Miami International Autodrome, but they're close enough for an excursion… while for anyone wanting to take a break from horsepower, to the south, there's the Everglades (to see the 'gators) and the Florida Keys (to see the sunsets).

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Mastering Miami International Autodrome

The Miami International Autodrome isn't a street circuit and it isn't a permanent road course; instead it occupies a nebulous middle ground, being a purpose-built circuit, incorporating elements of a street grid, and designed to be rapidly constructed and disassembled. The walls are close, the grip is… variable and the challenge is extreme.

The 19-turn circuit tests cars at both ends of the speed range – deliberately so to ensure teams have tricky decisions to make. Running low-downforce can prove advantageous with the kilometre-plus full-throttle sections between T8-T11 and T16-T17, but the high-speed section that really catches the eye comes in the first sector, with a sequence of sweepers that exists on the boundary between being grip- and power-limited, really pushing F1 cars to their limit.

It certainly isn't all high-speed though, with the bigger gains and losses in laptime to be found in the slower corners – particularly the stadium section between T11-T16 where the track negotiates its way around and below the Turnpike interchange. Unusual for a low-speed section of track, it's been the sight of several red flags in previous years, with drivers losing control over the kerbs and discovering there really isn't any margin for error.

If this slow section is all about laptime, then the hairpin at the end of the backstraight, and the tight first corner are all about attack and defence. Miami International Autodrome features three DRS zones, the first, on the sinuous 'straight' into T11 is a one-shot deal, but the second and third, into the T17 hairpin, and then along the start-finish straight are more of a combination: similar to Jeddah last time out, anyone who doesn't get the move done – or decides to hold fire – into T17 gets another shot into T1. It makes for quite a bit of action, and no small amount of wheel-banging.

The magic of racing in Miami

The Miami Grand Prix offers a fine-tuned spectator-friendly experience, really not like anywhere else. It makes it a very busy week for the teams, who split their efforts between events downtown or out at South Beach, and the action at the track. The circuit is built in the parking lot of the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins.

It isn't the first time F1 has raced on a US parking lot – but this is light-years away from the Caesars Palace Grand Prix of the early 1980s, and is described by its architects as a 'temporary permanent race course' – the idea being the track can be rapidly assembled and disassembled around the grand prix, allowing best use of the multi-purpose site, which also hosts NFL games, rock concerts and the Miami Open tennis tournament.

It means F1 gets access to excellent facilities. The teams' hospitality units are now housed within the stadium, and the Grand Prix sells tickets for the stadium seats, allowing spectators to people-watch, and even stay within the confines to watch the track action on the giant screens.

There are many better views, however. The circuit is divided into eight themed spectator zones, with 10 bridges – more than any other circuit – connecting the various zones, and all featuring activations and facilities. The circuit has announced an intense foodie programme this year, featuring 65 local and international restaurants, with more than a few Michelin-starred chefs at work.

The eye-catching super yacht 'marina', is to be found at the long, multi-apex Turn Eight, while the Stadium Section – not to be confused with the actual stadium – at the other end of the circuit features The Beach Club, complete with swimming pools and cabanas. That's also where the stage is to be found, with musical guests over the weekend including Pitbull, Kygo, Tiësto, Kaskade, Sofi Tukker and Cedric Gervais.

There's also an auction this year, with a display of 38 cars on the Promenade. Star of the show is a championship-winning Brawn 001 from 2009, but for those with a little less room in the garage – and the wallet – there's an array of race-worn helmets, overalls and assorted F1 paraphernalia.

Where's the best place to watch? It really does depend what you want to see. The party will be down at the beach; F1 cars doing their thing will look spectacular from the Promenade; glamorous selfies will be at the Miami International Autodrome marina and the best overtaking spots can be seen from the West and North Campuses. What we would suggest is choosing a covered grandstand. With temperatures expected to hit 30°C, shade is going to be helpful. If you don't have it, remember to stay well hydrated.

Strategy Insights from the Sunshine State

We're back on the Sprint format this weekend. Last year's 19-lap Sprint in Miami saw the majority of the field choosing to use a Medium tyre for the race, with an even split between new rubber and drivers choosing to reuse a set from Sprint Qualifying. Only Yuki Tsunoda and Logan Sargeant, both towards the back of the grid, opted for a Soft tyre. It worked out well for the Japanese driver: before the race was neutralised, following the first-corner collision that took out Lance and Lando Norris, he vaulted from P15 to P10 using the superior grip of the Soft tyre, eventually coming home P9.

On to the race itself. Three years of the Miami Grand Prix have seen three victories for one-stop strategies. In fact, of the 30 points-scoring finishes across the three years, 28 have been one-stoppers. The overwhelming preference has been for a Medium-Hard race, with a broad pit window, running from the mid-teen laps to the late 20s in the 57-lap race. The reverse strategy of Hard-Medium has been effective for drivers with pace, starting out-of-position, including a Max Verstappen victory in 2023 from P9 on the grid. He ran to lap 45 on the Hard tyre before switching to Medium. That is later than the average stop for this strategy: high-30s/low 40s is more common, though Lewis Hamilton went as early as lap 26 last year.

The only driver to score with a two-stop is Sergio Pérez, he did Medium-Hard-Medium in 2022, with stops on laps 27 and 41, to finish fourth, and the same again in 2024 with stops on laps 17 and 28, to finish fifth.

It's been very rare to see a Soft tyre raced in Miami. The only driver to score having run a Soft tyre is Esteban Ocon, who came home P8 last year. He ran a Hard-Soft strategy, pitting on lap 41. This, however, is significant for 2025, given Pirelli has moved a step softer in their compound allocation, as was the case last time out in Jeddah, and will be again next time out in Imola.

The first three years of the Miami Grand Prix have seen the C2-C3-C4 used, with F1's tyre supplier moving to C3-C4-C5 for this year's race. The intent is to bring the two-stop strategy into play – though that proved ineffective last week in Jeddah, with the 2025 compounds proving slightly more robust than their predecessors. Miami, however, is a different sort of challenge.

Ultimate Miami Grand Prix facts

1 | Lance started his single-seater career in Florida, contesting the 2014 Florida Winter Series, at Sebring, Palm Beach and Homestead, alongside fellow future F1 drivers Nicholas Latifi and Max Verstappen and future Le Mans winner Antonio Fuoco.

2 | Miami International Autodrome is the second venue in Florida to host a round of the Formula One World Championship, after Sebring hosted the inaugural United States Grand Prix in 1959.

3 | In total, 12 venues in the USA have held F1 races, more than any other country. After Sebring, the United States Grand Prix moved to Riverside in California for 1960, then Watkins Glen (1961-1980), Phoenix (1989-1991), the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2000-2007) and, currently, the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas (2012 –). The other races are the US Grand Prix West, held at Long Beach (1976-1983), The Caesars Palace Grand Prix (1981-1982), the Detroit Grand Prix (1982-1988), the Dallas Grand Prix (1984) and the Las Vegas Grand Prix (2023 –). The Indy 500 was also classified as a round of the World Championship between 1950-1960, despite featuring no F1 cars and few F1 drivers.

4 | Miami has proven itself as a good circuit for overtaking. There were 45 successful overtaking moves in 2022, 52 in 2023 and 32 in 2024 – all well above average.

5 | The race has yet to be won from pole position. Max Verstappen, starting P3 in 2022 is the winner starting furthest forward. He's also the winner starting furthest back, from P9 the following year – which is also the furthest back from which anyone has finished on the podium.

6 | Surprisingly, given the proximity of the walls, the Miami Grand Prix has only generated two full Safety Cars: in 2022 following a collision between Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly, and last year, when Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant collided. We also saw a VSC last year when Max Verstappen hit, carried and dropped a bollard onto the track.

Last time out

We've come away from Miami with something each time we’ve visited. 2022 was a tough race with both drivers starting from the pitlane after a fuelling problem. Seb ran a brilliant race to claw his way up to P9 before a collision with Mick Schumacher five laps from home saw him retire the car. Lance came over the line P12, but penalties for Fernando and Daniel Ricciardo saw him promoted post-race to P10. His gap over Fernando in the final race classification: 0.102 seconds – which really does show the value of pushing all the way to the line.

2023 was a little more successful for Fernando. Now clad in green, he started the race in P2, but lost out to a recovering Max Verstappen. That left Fernando in no-man's land: 20 seconds behind the Red Bulls, but comfortably ahead of the Mercedes. He filled in his time watching the race on the big screens, offering the odd moment of commentary.

Last year's Sprint wasn't our finest hour. After a good Qualifying session, Lance lined up P7 and Fernando P8. In the first corner, Fernando was squeezed on the inside by Lewis Hamilton, collided with the rear of Lance, who in turn dominoed into Lando Norris. Lance was out on the spot; Fernando trailed home last. Neither driver made it through to Q3, which prompted Fernando to try the alternative strategy. It was looking pretty good, until a mid-race Safety Car gave his rivals a cheap stop, but a very disciplined final stint on the Medium tyre got him home in P9.

Free Practice 1

Fri 2 MAY17:30-18:30 BST

17:30-18:30 BST

Sprint Qualifying

Fri 2 MAY21:30-22:14 BST

21:30-22:14 BST

Sprint

Sat 3 MAY17:00-18:00 BST

17:00-18:00 BST

Qualifying

Sat 3 MAY21:00-22:00 BST

21:00-22:00 BST

Race

Sun 4 MAY21:00 BST

21:00 BST

Talking Points

Jessica Hawkins talks Miami

As the Miami Grand Prix takes us Stateside for the first time this season, Aston Martin Aramco Head of F1 ACADEMY and Driver Ambassador Jessica Hawkins looks ahead to a pulsating weekend on and off the track in Magic City.

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