The 2026 Formula 1 calendar gets back into motion this week after a forced pause, with the Miami Grand Prix being billed as the effective launch of a "new championship". This marks the first time since the Japanese Grand Prix on March 29 that all teams will be on the grid together, reconvening at the Miami International Autodrome after a five‑week lull caused by the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds that were originally slated in the 24‑race schedule. Miami now hosts the fourth race weekend of the year and the second Sprint event, but the month‑long break gave every outfit a chance to work on their brand‑new 2026 cars in the factory. Since Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli claimed the lead in the Drivers' Championship with a win at Suzuka, expectations are that the return to racing will feel different from the opening three meetings.
Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur, whose squad had been the nearest rivals to Mercedes before the interruption, said the situation would feel like a fresh start to the campaign. "Everyone will bring new upgrades to Miami," he told Sky Sports Italy from Suzuka.
"They’ll have time to work on the software, which is why I said a new championship will start." Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, whose team has already taken all three race victories and one Sprint win, echoed the sentiment, noting that the Silver Arrows are the benchmark that every other team is trying to catch in this new‑rules era. "Teams have learned, drivers are starting to learn how to optimise these systems to their benefit and we saw the 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 explained.
"Miami is going to be for me also a restart. How are the upgrades going to work that people are bringing?
How have we optimised all the other systems? It’s going to be exciting." The original plan had seen a race in Bahrain on 12 April, followed by a Saudi Arabian round on 19 April, but both events were called off on safety grounds after the conflict in the Middle East escalated. With no feasible replacement dates and no other races scheduled for April, the series was forced into an unscheduled five‑week hiatus—the longest in‑season gap since the opening two rounds of the 1999 season, if summer and winter breaks are excluded.
Unlike the mandated summer and off‑season shutdowns, the teams were allowed to keep working behind closed doors throughout April. The $215 million (£159 million) budget cap and the aerodynamic testing restrictions remained in force, as did the ban on full in‑season track testing (though limited runs were permitted on designated filming days and Pirelli test sessions). Because the development programmes for the early‑season cars had already been mapped out, the extra factory time gave engineers across the grid a valuable window to fine‑tune and enhance their packages for Miami and the races that follow. McLaren, for example, had always targeted Miami as a showcase for a major upgrade, recalling how the Woking base introduced a game‑changing aerodynamic element in 2024.
Andrea Stella, the team principal, said that the revised calendar actually helped the team concentrate on a "completely new car" for the North‑American swing. "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," he said.
"Across Miami and Canada we will see an entirely new MCL40. I would expect most of our competitors to be in a similar position, so it will be a test of who can add the most performance in the same time frame." Consequently, the Friday session at the Miami circuit will be closely watched for the range of upgrade packages each team brings, how those changes translate into lap times, and whether any significant reshuffle of the pecking order occurs.
For outfits that have struggled early on—such as Aston Martin and Williams—the extended break offers a chance to claw back and potentially make a bigger jump relative to the front‑runners. The pause also gave every team the opportunity to digest the massive amount of data generated during the first three race weekends with the complex 2026 machinery. That information is feeding into decisions about which aerodynamic concepts to prioritise for the rest of the year, as well as how to best manage the hybrid power units and energy deployment strategies over a race weekend.
Drivers, too, have benefited from the unexpected downtime. In addition to maintaining fitness regimens, they have been logging hours on team simulators, working closely with engineers to refine their understanding of the new cars and to adapt their driving styles for the specific demands of the Miami layout. Meanwhile, technical directors have been in talks with the FIA about regulatory tweaks that are set to be introduced from the Miami round. The most notable changes concern the power‑unit rules, aiming to smooth out energy deployment so that qualifying laps can be driven more flat‑out and to reduce extreme speed differentials between cars during certain sections of a race.
Because of those adjustments and the five‑week gap, the sole practice session for the Sprint weekend in Miami has been lengthened from the standard 60 minutes to 90 minutes, giving teams extra track time to get accustomed to the new parameters. Going into the event, Mercedes remains on top of both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships, having secured three wins in as many race weekends—a performance that had already made them the clear favourites in pre‑season predictions.
Their lead over second‑placed Ferrari stands at 45 points, while McLaren, the two‑time reigning champions, sit 89 points behind in third, having shown an improved showing with a second‑place finish at Suzuka. Red Bull, Haas and Alpine occupy the lower half of the table, with Red Bull only six points ahead of the latter two. In the drivers' standings, 19‑year‑old Kimi Antonelli surprisingly tops the leaderboard with 72 points, ahead of his teammate George Russell (63 points). Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is third, 23 points behind Antonelli, and his team‑mate Lewis Hamilton is fourth, eight points further back.
Lando Norris, the defending champion, occupies fifth with 25 points, followed by McLaren's Oscar Piastri on 21 points and Max Verstappen in ninth with 12 points, reflecting Red Bull's early‑season struggles. The schedule for the weekend is packed: - Thursday (April 30): Drivers' press conference at 7 pm, followed by a Paddock Uncut segment at 10 pm. - Friday (May 1): F2 practice at 2.25 pm, Miami GP practice at 4.30 pm (session starts at 5 pm), F2 qualifying at 7.25 pm, team bosses' press conference at 8.10 pm, and Sprint qualifying at 8.40 pm (session starts at 9.30 pm). - Saturday (May 2): F2 sprint at 2.55 pm, Miami GP sprint build‑up at 4 pm, the Sprint itself at 5 pm, Ted's Sprint Notebook at 6.30 pm, qualifying build‑up at 8 pm, Miami GP qualifying at 9 pm, and a qualifying analysis notebook at 11 pm.
- Sunday (May 3): F2 feature race at 5.25 pm, GP build‑up at 7 pm, the Miami Grand Prix at 9 pm, post‑race reaction at 11 pm, and a final race notebook at midnight. All sessions are also simulcast on Sky Sports Main Event and available to stream via NOW without a long‑term contract. In summary, the Miami Grand Prix will act as a reset button for the 2026 Formula 1 season. Teams have used the enforced break to develop upgrades, analyse data, and adapt to upcoming regulatory changes.
Whether Mercedes can maintain its dominant lead, Ferrari can close the gap, or a surprise challenger will emerge remains to be seen, but the extended practice, the upgraded cars, and the fresh regulatory framework promise a thrilling start to what many are already calling a new championship.