The big topics before the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Miami

(Motorsport-Total.com) - After a tight schedule of five races in six weeks, the teams had the opportunity to take stock and regroup – just in time for the second sprint weekend of the year at the Miami Autodrome. Ahead of the Grand Prix, we look at the key storylines to watch.

Can Norris build on last year’s victory?

In its three previous editions, the race around the Miami Dolphins' Hard Rock Stadium has hardly developed into a classic – the races on the track have often been unspectacular. The event has been more important off the track, as Formula 1 continues to expand its footprint in the USA.

But last year, history was made here: Lando Norris took his first Formula 1 victory for McLaren - a milestone that ushered in a new era for the team, as a major upgrade package made McLaren a title contender again.

McLaren started the 2025 season strongly, winning four of the first five races, and might even have beaten Max Verstappen in Japan. But while Norris struggles to adjust to the significantly modified car, teammate Oscar Piastri is threatening to overtake him as McLaren's top hope—he has already won three races, while Norris has triumphed only once, in Melbourne.

With 19 races remaining—a number that used to represent an entire season—Piastri's ten-point lead doesn't mean much. The key is whether the young Australian can start a winning streak and whether Norris can return to form and deliver more consistent weekends in the MCL39.

In Saudi Arabia, Norris appeared more comfortable than in Bahrain, despite a costly qualifying crash, but he and the team need to make further progress to reach his full potential.

Is Miami a Red Bull track?

The biggest mystery of the 2025 season so far is Red Bull's form. Nothing went right in Bahrain, while Verstappen shone at Suzuka and was capable of winning again in Saudi Arabia—until a first-lap incident with Piastri and a resulting five-second penalty slowed him down.

Some patterns have nevertheless emerged: McLaren currently has the fastest car, especially on hot and abrasive tracks, where better rear tire management becomes a clear advantage. In races with low tire wear and one-stop strategies, however, McLaren is less able to exploit this advantage.

Then Red Bull, especially with Verstappen, will be within striking distance again, as long as the car balance is right. Looking ahead to Miami, however, Sky expert Ralf Schumacher says: "Max will struggle there. It's going to be warm, temperatures are a problem. The tires are very soft, so I don't think he has a chance this time. It'll be a bit more like Bahrain for him, I think."

Important Red Bull upgrades will only come in Imola, so the team must rely on perfect implementation on the track and Verstappen's skills for now.

Miami is particularly interesting in this regard. Pirelli will be bringing the same softer tire selection as in Jeddah (C3, C4, C5). Combined with the Miami heat, thermal wear will be an issue.

If the soft C5 rear tire overheats, McLaren could once again be significantly ahead in qualifying. However, the Miami race is traditionally a one-stop race, so wear is rather moderate. Pirelli hopes the softer compounds will force two stops, but given the limited overtaking opportunities, teams will likely do everything they can to avoid additional pit stops.

Mercedes vs. Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton vs. himself

The softer tire compounds didn't help Mercedes much in Jeddah. The team had disappointing race pace there, which contradicted its solid start to the season. Mercedes now aims to apply the lessons learned from the Saudi Arabian race in Miami, which offers similar temperatures and tires.

While rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli fluctuates between impressive performances and mixed weekends, George Russell is in top form - a key factor in the team's strongest start to the season so far in the ground effect era.

Ferrari also remains a mystery: After promising tests, performance was largely lacking – apart from Hamilton's surprise sprint win in China and Leclerc's first podium in Jeddah. Like Red Bull, major upgrades aren't expected until Imola and Barcelona – the goal: more downforce for the SF-25.

Until then, Leclerc and especially Hamilton will have to make do with what they have. Hamilton has been struggling with the ground-effect cars since 2022, but recently he seemed completely out of sorts – especially in Jeddah, he lacked confidence in the car, especially the unstable rear end. The upgrades can't come soon enough for him.

Who will take the lead in midfield?

Williams currently leads the midfield in fifth place – thanks to a double point finish in Jeddah. But the team has already admitted that it has almost completely halted its development for this year to focus on 2026. This makes the five-point lead over Haas deceptive – Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz still need to score as many points as possible in the early stages of the season.

Luckily for Williams, their direct rivals aren't scoring consistently and are stealing points from each other. Haas has made the most of its opportunities so far.

The US team is in sixth place with 20 points, while drivers Alpine and Racing Bulls seem to have more potential than their results show, as evidenced by Pierre Gasly's seventh place in Bahrain and Isack Hadjar's strong performance in Japan.

The sprint format is back

Miami is the second of six sprint weekends this year, meaning less room for error. Remember, the weekend begins with just one free practice session on Friday, followed by sprint qualifying.

The 19-lap sprint race follows on Saturday morning, after which the teams are allowed to change their setups before regular qualifying begins in the afternoon.

The window for setup changes is more generous than in the old sprint format - and the teams have more reliable long-run data from the sprint on Saturday morning to make decisions about ride heights and other parameters.

But that also means that teams and drivers who have a slow start to the weekend or miss the only practice session will be penalized. However, a surprise in the sprint race is still not out of the question, as we saw in Shanghai when Hamilton took a victory that was a very long time ago.