The return of Formula 1 to Miami following the April break was a highly anticipated one with the regulation changes and simply because we missed racing.
I may be furious about the state of our sport these days after how its management and the FIA have broken it with the idiotic 2026 regulations to please car manufacturers, but in the end, having no races in April was unnatural.
The regulation changes were announced ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, but needless to say, I was not very optimistic, as the problem was so fundamental to be solved by fiddling with some charging and recharging parameters in an algorithm.
So let's look back on what went down in Miami last weekend with our takeaways from the Miami Grand Prix.
Did the changes work?
Well, in my opinion: No. But don't take my word for it; take the drivers' opinions, as while they said Qualifying was less bad, it was still far from the flat-out laps they used to be before.
And for the racing, well, the Sprint was so bad it made yo-yo racing sound exciting, but then we got that in the Grand Prix and remembered how ridiculous it looks.
The fact that we couldn't know who would win the Grand Prix early on was exciting, but that had nothing to do with the regs or with their tweaks.
When the driver with the best car drops at the start and climbs up the order, that is always fun to watch, so thank you, Mercedes, for not figuring out how to launch your W17 yet.
Kimi Antonelli delivered a fine drive, and Mercedes outsmarted McLaren with the strategy, or was it the latter who messed up theirs? Lando Norris was not happy, and for the first time he threw his team under the bus.
So in the end we had an unpredictable race with Max Verstappen's spin and THAT SAVE adding to the show while the Safety Car, thanks to Isack Hadjar's shambolic and brief drive and the Liam Lawson/Pierre Gasly incident, also played a role.
Which means that credit for all the positives about the race in Miami goes to traditional F1 factors, not the new regs, not their tweaks, and definitely not the Sprint bore fest or the fake marinas and beaches and the off-track activities.
What is more worrying is what Norris, Antonelli, and Oscar Piastri said in their post-race press conference about the closing speeds, which they all agreed are still high and remain a concern. So the tweaks did not sort the safety issue.
On a final note, Miami and the nature of its track were nice to the new regs, not showing their full shortcomings. Canada and other tracks will not be the same.
Bravissimo Kimi!
What a weekend that was for Antonelli! Indeed, he had his bad moments with the starts and that silly mistake in the Sprint Race with the track limits and the consequent penalty, but the way he bounced back in Qualifying and how he came back from that bad start in the Grand Prix showed his mettle.
There is a pattern developing here. You know how Verstappen has these uncharacteristic spins and manages those beautiful saves? Antonelli is emerging as a cool-headed driver, despite his tender age, managing to bounce back and deliver his best whenever he finds himself in a sticky situation.
That said, there is no denying the Italian's talent, which, as he gains more experience and matures, will make him a formidable driver on the F1 grid.
The kid is smart and grounded and seems to have a great support system, whether within Mercedes or from his family, which is very useful, even crucial, at this stage of his career.
Early-season title favorite George Russell was flabbergasted at the performance of his teammate as he resorted to silly explanations about how he doesn't enjoy the low-grip Miami track, which actually made him look even worse.
He revealed that he had to use Antonelli's settings during the Grand Prix, which helped him feel better in the car. I have to say Russell is brave to admit that his younger teammate is showing him the way while he is supposed to be the de facto team leader.
Honeymoons in F1 between drivers and their teams are notoriously short-lived, and George needs to act fast before his and Mercedes' is over.
Mercedes cannot rest on their laurels
Miami showed that, while Mercedes have an advantage over their rivals, it is not as big as the one they enjoyed in 2014, at the start of the first V6 turbo-hybrid era.
McLaren and Ferrari brought upgrades, which closed the gap, and Norris managed to win the Sprint. That Antonelli took pole for the Grand Prix and eventually won it was due to his driving and Mercedes' race execution.
McLaren dropped the ball and Ferrari... Well, they also managed to underdeliver on a weekend where they seemed to have decent pace in the heavily upgraded SF-26.
Mercedes managed to limit the damage of their rivals' early upgrades and will now have their own package in Canada, but they need to always be one step ahead of the competition if they want to win this Championship.
Don't forget, none of the other power unit manufacturers have used the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) to tweak their units yet.
Mercedes also need to find a way to sort out their race starts. McLaren with a Mercedes power unit are delivering excellent starts already, and it is not fair to Antonelli and Russell to have this issue hovering over them every time they line up on the grid.
Miami Grand Prix Quick Hits
- Ferrari were definitely a disappointment in Miami given the potential they showed with the upgrades and ultimately failing to realize it. Lewis Hamilton was more disappointing. Where was he? Off the pace, anonymous all weekend long.
As for Charles Leclerc, he was on the pace, but that spin at the end of the Grand Prix was silly unless it was due to an algorithm glitch that delivered a sudden power surge. - Cadillac brought a major upgrade to their car, and while there was a slight improvement, they were lapped in the Grand Prix. Sergio Perez was down one lap while Valtteri Bottas was down by two.
- Aston Martin and Honda are adamant the vibrations were fewer. Good news for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, but their pace was closer to Formula 2 than Formula 1. Bad news for Adrian Newey.
- Williams had a major upgrade as well, but you can't help but feel that their double-points finish was down to their rivals underachieving on the day.
- Welcome to Red Bull Racing Isack Hadjar. In Miami, you got the first glimpse of what it is really like to be Max Verstappen's teammate. Good luck.
- We end on a positive. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said V8s will be Formula 1's next engines. If only we could get them back before 2030...
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