The 2026 Formula One calendar gets back into motion this week with the Miami Grand Prix, an event many are calling the true kickoff of a "new championship" after a forced hiatus in April. For the first time since the Japanese Grand Prix on March 29, all teams will be back on the circuit together on Friday at the Miami International Autodrome, ending a five‑week lull that was originally meant to be filled by the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds before they were cancelled. Miami now hosts the fourth race weekend of the year and the second Sprint weekend, but the month‑long break has given every outfit a rare window to tinker with their brand‑new 2026 cars.
Since Mercedes youngster Kimi Antonelli claimed the championship lead with a win at Suzuka, the teams have been able to return to their factories and develop upgrades that could reshape the competitive order. Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur, whose squad was the nearest challenger to Mercedes before the pause, described the situation as a fresh start to the season. "Everyone will bring new upgrades to Miami," he told Sky Sports Italy, adding that the extra time to refine software means "a new championship will start".
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff echoed that sentiment, noting that his Silver Arrows have swept the first three races and the Sprint, but the break gives rivals a chance to close the gap. "Teams have learned, drivers are starting to learn how to optimise these systems to their benefit and we've seen that first indication in Japan that looked like a home run in the first two races but isn't the case and we've always won," Wolff said. He framed Miami as a restart, curious to see how the upgrades will perform and how the various systems have been fine‑tuned.
The original schedule had Bahrain on 12 April and Saudi Arabia on 19 April, but both events were called off for safety reasons linked to the Middle‑East conflict. With no feasible alternatives and no other races slated for April, the championship suffered an unscheduled five‑week intermission—the longest in‑season gap since the opening two rounds of 1999, excluding the usual summer and winter breaks. Unlike those mandated shutdowns, the current pause allowed the eleven teams to keep working behind closed doors, albeit under the constraints of the $215 million budget cap, aerodynamic testing limits, and the ban on full in‑season track testing (though limited runs on filming days and Pirelli test days were permitted).
This extra development window has been especially valuable for teams that had already earmarked Miami as a showcase for major upgrades. McLaren, for example, introduced a game‑changing aerodynamic package at the Woking factory for the 2024 season and intended to debut another substantial update in North America. Andrea Stella, McLaren's team principal, explained that the calendar shift actually helped his team and others to focus on development rather than racing. "We could keep up with this plan, obviously the fact that the calendar has been changed sort of helped a little bit like I'm sure helped all the other teams that could work more streamlined towards upgrading the car rather than being busy with racing," Stella said.
He expects a completely new specification of the MCL40 to appear across Miami and the subsequent Canadian Grand Prix, and anticipates that most rivals will be in a similar position, turning the weekend into a test of who can extract the most performance from the same development period. Consequently, Friday's practice session will be a key indicator of how the various upgrade packages translate into lap times.
Teams that struggled early, such as Aston Martin and Williams, will be looking for significant gains, while front‑runners aim to consolidate their advantage. The pause also gave engineers ample time to digest the massive data sets generated by the three opening rounds, informing decisions on which aerodynamic concepts to prioritise and how to optimise power‑unit deployment under the new 2026 regulations.
Drivers, too, have used the downtime productively. Beyond maintaining physical fitness, they have spent countless hours in simulators, working closely with engineers to refine driving techniques that suit the novel aerodynamics and hybrid systems of the 2026 cars. Technical directors have also been in talks with the FIA about regulatory tweaks that are set to be introduced from Miami onward. These changes focus on energy deployment, aiming to make qualifying laps more naturally flat‑out and to reduce abrupt speed differentials during races, thereby enhancing safety and on‑track battles.
To accommodate the new parameters, the sole practice session on the Sprint weekend will be extended from 60 to 90 minutes, giving drivers and engineers extra track time to adapt. Mercedes enters Miami leading both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships with three wins from the opening three events, a performance that cemented their status as early favourites. Their lead over second‑placed Ferrari stands at 45 points, while McLaren sits 89 points back in third, having recovered with a strong second place at Suzuka.
Red Bull, Haas and Alpine trail further down the order. In the drivers' standings, 19‑year‑old Kimi Antonelli unexpectedly tops the leaderboard with 72 points, followed by George Russell on 63 points after his back‑to‑back victories. Charles Leclerc occupies third for Ferrari, 23 points adrift of Antonelli, with Lewis Hamilton in fourth and Lando Norris in fifth.
Oscar Piastri sits sixth and Max Verstappen, struggling for pace, is ninth. The Miami weekend schedule is packed: Thursday features a drivers' press conference; Friday includes F2 practice, the sole Miami GP practice, F2 qualifying, a team bosses' press conference and Sprint qualifying; Saturday hosts the F2 sprint, the Sprint race itself, and qualifying for the Grand Prix; Sunday culminates with the F2 feature race, the Grand Prix, and post‑race analysis. All sessions will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with streaming available via NOW. Overall, the five‑week intermission has turned the Miami Grand Prix into more than just another race—it is a litmus test for how quickly teams can translate development work into on‑track performance, how drivers can harness new software and aerodynamic upgrades, and whether the early-season hierarchy will hold or be reshuffled as the championship truly begins its second act.