An early race start, wet weather chaos and a thrilling front row: What to expect in the Miami Grand Prix

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Five weeks on from the previous round, Formula One is back in action for the Miami Grand Prix after a break crucially defined by the technical regulation amendments.

Following the dry sprint — won by Lando Norris, the first non-Mercedes win of the year in any format — qualifying saw Kimi Antonelli clinch his third consecutive pole for the Sunday race.

With the Grand Prix set to start three hours earlier than planned owing to turbulent weather conditions in Florida, we’re in for a tantalising race with more variables in the mix in the form of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc lining up behind the polesitter, as well as the McLaren pair lurking right behind the top three.

Here are five exciting things to look out for in the Miami Grand Prix, with lights set to go out at 18:00 BST.

An early race start and inclement weather

The Miami Grand Prix’s fate hung in balance even before the weekend got underway, with forecasts indicating heavy rainfall and lightning strikes — the latter of which would’ve forced the race to be held off due to safety precautions.

In response to the threat of inclement weather conditions, the FIA convened post-qualifying to ascertain the status of the Sunday race, following which it was decided to start the race three hours earlier than planned to avoid the severe late afternoon storms.

Credit: Formula One

Despite the early start set for 18:00 BST, showers can still be expected during the 57-lap race, not to mention the lingering damp track conditions from the rain throughout the day.

This will be the first time we see this generation of F1 in racing action in wet weather, and for many on the grid, it will be their first time in wet conditions in any case. Only Ferrari and Red Bull have experience, though limited, in the wet from the Barcelona shakedown and Pirelli’s tyre tests.

Thrilling front-rows to spice up the opening laps

Though Antonelli sits on pole, his race starts have been his Achilles heel this season. He shares the front row with Verstappen, who will no doubt be ready to pounce for the lead, but a bigger threat is highly likely to sneak up on the top two at the race start.

Ferrari has proven in all the races this year that their launches off the grid are enviably rapid. With Leclerc lining up right behind Antonelli and Verstappen, a three-way fight for the lead is certainly on our hands — Leclerc having the upper hand despite starting third.

While in the previous rounds, Mercedes have managed to always recover to clinch victory despite their disadvantage at the start, it is less likely to be a cake walk this time around.

The weekend so far has shown the Silver Arrows to be off kilter, with power unit issues throughout practice and a shoddy showing during the sprint sessions, neither driver securing a spot on the sprint podium.

For the first time this season, Mercedes look beatable, and the win is wide open.

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Verstappen, Leclerc and sprint-winner Norris starting fourth all have a genuine shot at victory in Miami, and will be eager to swoop in should Mercedes show more cracks in their near perfect form so far this year.

Russell on a recovery drive to become the championship protagonist once more

George Russell, the overwhelming pre-season championship favourite and standings leader until Japan, has had a rough run in Miami so far. 

After managing power unit issues in practice and being miles off the pace in both qualifying sessions, Russell’s only ray of positivity this weekend was salvaging fourth place in the sprint while his championship-leading teammate Antonelli tumbled down to sixth after starting second.

The Briton qualified fifth for the Grand Prix, unable to extract pace from the dominant W17 while Antonelli went on to secure pole. 

With wet weather set to shake things up and chaos always looming, Russell will hope to get his head back in the game and retake control of the championship narrative from his younger teammate.

Credit: Formula One

McLaren unleashing more performance 

While all the teams around them carried a host of new parts to their cars, McLaren’s upgrades seem to have closed the gap the most. Taking the only non-Mercedes pole and win in any format so far this year, it’s safe to say that McLaren are back in the fight after their nightmare opening races.

Though expectations were tempered heading into qualifying despite a 1-2 in the sprint, it’s clear that the McLaren pair have much more performance in them than just fourth for Norris and seventh for Oscar Piastri.

Expect both Norris and Piastri to be on the hunt for more positions, and keen to capitalise on potential drama up ahead.

Antonelli extending his championship lead

Seven points separate Antonelli from his more experienced teammate Russell, and though the Italian’s weekend has been rocky, he has benefitted from an off-form Russell to maintain his lead thus far.

With Russell starting down in fifth, Antonelli will be eager to secure his third consecutive F1 victory and eke out his advantage over Russell in the early stages of the season while he still can, before his more experienced teammate has the opportunity to have the edge further into the year. 

Antonelli has always seemed to go around well in Miami, taking sprint pole last year in his rookie season, and with pole secured this year, the win is not far out of reach. If he can iron out his poor race starts and manage to keep Verstappen and Leclerc at bay, victory and more valuable championship points could be an easy grab for the Italian teenager.