Formula 1 News: 2025 Miami GP Preview

The ten Formula 1 teams are headed to the Sunshine State for Round 6 of the 2025 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the Miami Grand Prix, at the Miami International Autodrome.

The Miami Grand Prix debuted in 2022 and takes place at the purpose-built Miami International Autodrome, which winds its way around the campus of the Hard Rock Stadium. It is home to the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins, with Formula 1’s permanent three-level pit building sitting in the shadow of the 65,000-seater structure.

The 5.4km circuit features a range of low-, medium-, and high-speed corners, as well as tricky off-camber sections, and a couple of full-throttle sections where overtaking is possible. However, the infrequent use of the Miami International Autodrome means off-line grip can be at a premium, while the walls are ready to catch out any driver that errs.

For the second successive season the Miami Grand Prix will host the Sprint format, placing a greater emphasis on Friday’s sole one-hour practice session prior to the business end of the weekend’s track activities.

F1 Academy will once more be part of the Miami Grand Prix support package.

Miami is F1’s 11th different venue in the U.S.A and after making an epic debut last year, it has certainly become one of the most anticipated races in the F1 calendar.

The Miami Grand Prix is the first of three trips to the United States in 2024 for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, with Austin (October 18-20) and Las Vegas (November 21-23) to be tackled once summer has long slipped into fall. For now, the focus is on springtime in the southern tip of the Sunshine State, and the third running of the Miami Grand Prix.

The circuit has been designed in conjunction with Formula 1 officials in order to create the best fast and flowing layout, as well as offering maximum opportunities for racing, with three DRS zones located around the track.

The start/finish line and pit lane will be located adjacent to the Hard Rock Stadium, where the likes of Taylor Swift, The Rolling Stones and U2 once played, and which will now reverberate to the sound of Formula 1 machinery. Formula 1 is ready to thrive in ‘The 305’.

Fact File: Miami Grand Prix

The 5.412 km Miami International Autodrome became the 11th track to host a Grand Prix in the USA when it first appeared on the calendar in 2022.

It became the 76th different venue to host a Formula One Grand Prix.

The track in Miami ranks high in terms of top speeds achieved comparative with other circuits; only Monza, the Circuit Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico and Las Vegas expected to see higher top speeds this season.

The Miami Grand Prix is the second of six Sprint format events on the calendar. Last year, a significant rule change was introduced, not to the actual format, but to the parc ferme regulations for these races. Until 2024, car set-up could not be altered as from the start of Sprint Qualifying, whereas since last year, parc ferme rules are suspended from the end of the Sprint Race to the start of qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

This means car set-up can be modified based on data the teams acquire during the Sprint race, which is really the first true opportunity for a simulation run under Grand Prix conditions, especially in terms of assessing car behavior, particularly the behavior of the tire compound chosen for the short race. The only key difference is the fuel load, as Sprint races only require one third of the fuel needed for the main event. However, teams all have simulation tools that allow them to effectively calculate how fuel weight affects tire performance.

Miami – together with Baku – is among the highest circuits for drag sensitivity. Cars can reach a maximum speed of over 330km/h while accelerating down the back straight.

Several small tweaks were made to the track between its first race in 2022 and the second edition last year. These included the track being resurfaced with a new aggregate ahead of 2023, offering improved grip for the drivers with the aim of increasing overtaking opportunities.

Along with Austria and Las Vegas, Miami has the highest number of heavy braking events on the calendar with three.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull won the first two editions of this race, in 2022 and 2023, while Lando Norris secured his maiden Formula 1 win here last year with McLaren. Each year has seen a different driver take pole position: Charles Leclerc and Ferrari in the inaugural edition, followed by Sergio Perez (Red Bull) in 2023, with his team-mate Verstappen securing the number one slot last year.

So far, the quickest driver in qualifying has never won the race, but has always finished second. Apart from the four aforementioned drivers, only two others, the Spaniards Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, have made it to the podium, both in third place.

This year’s Miami Grand Prix will be the 80th round of the Drivers’ Formula 1 World Championship to have been held in the United States of America, since its inception in 1950. The USA thus moves ahead of Germany and Great Britain to take second place on the list of countries to have hosted the most Grands Prix, leaving Italy out in front on 107.

To date, eleven venues have hosted these races: Austin (12 Grands Prix,) Dallas (1), Detroit (7), Indianapolis (19), Las Vegas (4), Long Beach (8), Miami (3), Phoenix (3), Riverside (1), Sebring (1) and Watkins Glen (20).

Curious fact: the two drivers with the most USA wins will be racing this weekend in Miami and they are Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen with six victories apiece. As for the teams, thanks to Leclerc’s win in Austin last year, Ferrari is now the most successful team in the USA with 14 wins to its name.

The track in Miami ranks high in terms of top speeds achieved comparative with other circuits, with only Monza, the Circuit Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico, Baku, and Las Vegas seeing higher top speeds this season. Miami together with Baku are amongst the highest circuits for drag sensitivity.

After the first edition of the race in 2022, the track was resurfaced with a new aggregate, offering improved grip for the drivers with the aim of increasing overtaking opportunities.

The Miami International Autodrome is one of nine on the 2025 F1 calendar to run in an anti-clockwise direction.

USA TV Schedule

All Times Eastern

Friday, May 2, 2025	Location	TV Times	Network
Formula 1 Miami GP Practice 1	Miami	12:25pm – 1:30pm (Live)	ESPN U
Formula 1 Miami GP Sprint Qualifying	Miami	4:25pm – 5:30pm (Live)	ESPNews /ESPN+
Saturday, May 3, 2025	Location	TV Times	Network
Formula 1 Miami GP Sprint Race	Miami	11:55am – 1:00pm (Live)	ESPN
Formula 1 Ted’s Sprint Race Notebook	Miami	1:30pm – 2:00pm (Live Stream)	ESPN3
F1 Academy: Miami Race 1	Miami	2:55pm (Live Stream)	ESPN+
Formula 1 Miami GP Qualifying Pre-Show	Miami	3:35pm – 3:55pm (Live Stream)	ESPN3
Formula 1 Miami GP Qualifying	Miami	3:55pm – 5:00pm (Live)	ESPN
Formula 1 Ted’s Qualifying Notebook	Miami	6:00pm – 6:30pm (Live Stream)	ESPN3
Sunday, May 4, 2025	Location	TV Times	Network
F1 Academy: Miami Race 2	Miami	1:05pm (Live Stream)	ESPN+
Formula 1: Miami GP Pre-Race	Miami	2:30pm – 3:55pm (Live)	ABC
Formula 1: Miami GP Countdown	Miami	3:00pm – 3:55pm (Live Stream)	ESPN3/ ESPN YouTube
Formula 1 Miami GP	Miami	3:55pm – 6:00pm (Live)	ABC
Formula 1: Miami GP Post-Race	Miami	6:00pm – 7:00pm (Live Stream)	ESPN3/ ESPN YouTube
Formula 1 Ted’s Race Notebook	Miami	7:00pm – 7:30pm (Live Stream)	ESPN3
Formula 1 Miami GP	Miami	10:00pm – 12:30am (Replay)	ESPNews
Monday, May 5, 2025	Location	TV Times	Network
Formula 1 Miami GP	Miami	1:30am – 4:00am (Replay)	ESPNews

 

Last Year’s Race Winner – Lando Norris

Lando Norris (1st): “What a race. It’s been a long time coming, but we’ve finally managed to do it. I’m so happy for the whole team, and what we’ve achieved together. We’ve had a few little setbacks across the weekend, but today we managed to put it all together. The car was great, the strategy was perfect, and I’m over the moon. I’m proud of everyone in this team today. I’ve always believed in them, and they’ve always had faith in me, and today we’ve really justified that. A huge thanks go to them for the hard work they’ve put in that made this possible.”

What’s the track like?

The 5.412 km venue is located around the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, featuring 19 corners, 12 left-handers and seven right. The layout is interesting, because it features many low and high-speed corners, but not very many in the mid-range. There are also several long straights and three DRS zones.

 

Because the slow corners are often followed by long straights, low-speed traction on corner exits will be important and a compromise is required with the car set-up. You want a high ride height with high downforce for the fast corners early on, a low drag set-up for the long straights and then a lower ride height with a high downforce level for the twisty sections. So, you must weigh up where the priorities are and what will get you the most lap time.

The sectors are all quite different. Sector one is dominated by faster, sweeping turns, while the second includes more of the slower turns. Sector three is dominated by the long back straight and the hairpin. Track evolution on the new surface is likely to be high, so lap times will be tumbling as the weekend progresses.

Surprisingly, the track’s characteristics share a few similarities with venues like Barcelona, in that the high-speed corners are early in the lap, therefore heating up the tires, and the end of the lap features twisty corners where the hot tires suffer – as there is no grip left. However, tire overheating might be a bit easier than in Barcelona, due to Miami’s long straights.

Track Insight

• Strategy: C2, C3 and C4 tires have been allocated for this weekend, the same as last year’s Miami Grand Prix. A one-stop strategy was the preferred strategy in 2022, although, at approximately 20 seconds, the pit-loss to change tires at the Miami International Autodrome is below the season average.
• Safety Cars: The 2022 race featured one Safety Car and one Virtual Safety Car. There are plenty of walls and barriers close to the track increasing the likelihood of an interruption during the race.
• Overtaking: There are three DRS zones, the first two of which have been shortened by 75 meters last year. Starting 9th, Max Verstappen passed polesitter Sergio Perez in last year’s race and won by 5.3s.  Turn 11 is the preferred spot for passing.

• Turns Six, Seven and Eight are a tricky combination of consecutive left-handers that flow into each other. Getting braking right on entry for this sequence is difficult, and the exit is just as important with a long, full-throttle run spanning all the way to Turn 13.
• Turn 13 might not look like much on paper, but it is deceptively tricky. It is slightly uphill, awkwardly cambered, and leads into a very tight, slow chicane. Large amounts of time can be lost in this sequence, which is far from ideal, as the longest straight on the circuit is shortly after this area of the track.
• At the end of the long straight is Turn 17. Cars will decelerate from 325 to 67 km/h in under 100 meters in this heavy braking zone. The corner opens up on exit, and defending out of it is far from easy through Turns 18 and 19 and down the start-finish straight, especially with a DRS zone aiding overtaking into Turn One

How does 12 month of not using the track influence a Grand Prix weekend?

Pirelli’s Perspective on Miami GP

 

The trio of compounds chosen by Pirelli is the same as that used a fortnight ago in Saudi Arabia: C3 as Hard, C4 as Medium and C5 as Soft. Again, just as in Jeddah, this is a step softer than last season.

The surface of the track that runs around the stadium is very smooth, exposing the tires to moderate longitudinal and lateral forces. Thermal degradation will be a major factor, as temperatures are expected to be very high, given that last year’s track temperature exceeded 55 °C. The surface was relaid in 2023 and, as with the other temporary Grand Prix circuits, grip levels will increase significantly the more the track rubbers-in across the weekend. The presence of support races for the F1 Academy and Porsche Carrera Cup North America will only add to this phenomenon.

The Miami International Autodrome is 5.412 kilometers long, the race being run over 57 laps. The layout incorporates parking lots, service roads and some public roads with a total of 19 corners, seven to the right and 12 to the left. The site is generally flat but some elevation changes have been built in, especially between turns 13 and 16, where the track runs under overpasses, including on and off-ramps for the Florida Turnpike, with an uneven surface.

As at Jeddah two weeks ago, there are three DRS zones here, the ends of which provide the track’s best overtaking opportunities, at turns 1, 11 and 17. The combined effect of slipstreaming and DRS produces very high speeds: last year, Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) hit 355 km/h in the race.