Five things to watch out for at the Miami Grand Prix

Can Oscar Piastri hold on to the championship lead?

Having scored his third win of the season in Jeddah, Oscar Piastri moved to the top of the standings. Fun stat: any driver with such a win rate in the first five races either won the championship or was already a champion. Piastri has made a strong case for himself, forcing the public to reassess the pre-season expectations – he’s now the one that many experts and fans see as the title favourite.

But as strong as he has looked in recent races, he needs to back it up with consistency. Apart from a minor – but costly – mistake in Melbourne, he’s been flawless this year. That is essentially what allowed him to take the championship lead, and with a decent margin already.

Curiously, the next few races will be very important for the Australian and his team. There’s no real reason to believe the pecking order will change dramatically when the FIA introduces stricter tests for front wings, but that could still affect performance. Trying to build a solid gap before the Barcelona race wouldn’t be a bad idea – and as Piastri has already proved this year, it’s a task he’s up for.

– Oleg Karpov

One year on from his first win, Lando Norris needs a clean weekend

Twelve months have changed Formula 1. McLaren returns to the track where, a year ago, the first cracks in Red Bull’s dominance appeared and Norris celebrated his maiden victory, growing alongside a car that has since become a benchmark for the grid.

Lando Norris took his first career win in Miami last year

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Since then, Norris has been thrust into the heart of a world championship battle, exposing the areas he must refine to achieve his ultimate dream. At the top, when you’re fighting against rivals such as Verstappen and a cold-blooded driver like Piastri, raw speed is no longer enough. It’s consistency that transforms speed into titles.

Piastri, for his part, has made a significant step forward this year, improving both in qualifying and in ironing out the inconsistency that sometimes held him back last season. He won’t wait for Norris – and now Norris must respond by showing he can make those same improvements.

The season is still long, but the next few races could prove critical for the title fight. Norris needs to rebuild his confidence and deliver a clean, mistake-free weekend, particularly in qualifying. The talent is there, but mistakes – while they can be growth opportunities – leave doubts, especially for someone as self-critical as Norris. That’s why he needs a flawless weekend, not just for his title hopes, but for himself.

– Gianluca D’Alessandro

Will Miami suit Red Bull?

The Miami Grand Prix is an interesting test for Red Bull for two reasons. First of all, it’s a sprint weekend, which means limited practice time. Teams benefit from two parc fermé periods in the current format, but it’s still a challenge for Red Bull.

Max Verstappen pointed out that in previous race weekends he “tried everything with the car” before finding the right direction for qualifying. Now, those opportunities are more limited. That’s true for every team, of course, but it becomes especially tricky if the car has a small set-up window or if the correlation with the simulator isn’t great – both of which apply to Red Bull.

The second factor is the Miami heat – and no, not the basketball team. The early races have shown a pattern: Red Bull is competitive when tyre degradation is low, but McLaren thrives in hot conditions with high degradation.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Alex Pantling – Formula 1

Helmut Marko admitted that “the hotter, the better for McLaren”, and Christian Horner jokingly said he thought McLaren would lap the field in Jeddah, judging by their pace in the daytime practice sessions. He also noted – rightly – that it wasn’t particularly cold in the Saudi evenings either, but that layout was much easier on tyres. Both elements make Miami a challenge for Red Bull, although the mood in the camp has improved after Verstappen’s encouraging pace in Jeddah.

– Ronald Vording

Can Ferrari take the next step after Leclerc’s podium?

They have to – because third place as their best result after five races isn’t what you’d expect from a Ferrari team that now includes Lewis Hamilton. That said, it doesn’t currently look like Ferrari will be able to build on Charles Leclerc’s podium in Saudi Arabia heading into this weekend in Miami.

Leclerc was able to hold off Norris in the closing stages in Jeddah, and that’s not nothing, but it was only possible because the McLaren driver started out of position after his Q3 crash.

Ferrari desperately needs to improve in qualifying – the car’s deficit to pole position has been averaging over three tenths – if it wants to challenge McLaren and Verstappen’s Red Bull in the races.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Peter Fox – Getty Images

Sure, Leclerc can deliver a spectacular qualifying performance on almost any weekend, and he’s already taken pole and a front-row start at the Miami International Autodrome. But even so, it’s hard to imagine Leclerc – and even less so Hamilton, given his current form – holding off this season’s usual suspects for a full Grand Prix distance.

– Federico Faturos

Is Carlos Sainz ready to score regularly now?

Carlos Sainz achieved his best performance with Williams in Jeddah, finally finishing ahead of Alexander Albon and placing the car where it was expected to be after pre-season testing: just behind the top four teams. The Spaniard impressed over the winter but admitted that he hadn’t found answers to his problems in the early races. That changed in Saudi Arabia, at the end of the year’s first triple-header.

Sainz had said he would need five races to be fully up to speed in his new car, and team boss James Vowles said he’d get there sooner. Jeddah was the fifth, and Miami is the sixth – so now the #55 aims to complete a competitive weekend, finish as ‘best of the rest’, and keep scoring regularly.

Carlos Sainz, Williams

Photo by: Peter Fox – Getty Images

We already suspected Sainz hadn’t suddenly forgotten how to drive, and if you’re only as good as your last race in F1, then the Spaniard’s stock is rising quickly. With the European leg of the calendar about to start after Miami, it’s the perfect moment for Sainz – currently 15th in the championship – to continue climbing the standings to where he belongs.

– Jose Carlos de Celis