Following the journey to Shanghai, it’s time for the first of three stops in the United States for the Formula One calendar. The F1 grid returns to Miami for the third ever grand prix in the south Florida icon. Last year, the dominant Red Bulls continued along with a one-two finish from Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. This year, Verstappen appears poised to do it again. With lots of recent activity across the league, here are some of the top stories about the drivers, teams and cars in the paddock.
The Drivers Market
With the season underway, the driver market is starting to heat up with fast and furious moves and signings. Nico Hulkenberg will be leaving Haas to join Kick Sauber before the team, along with Hulkenberg, who will transition to Audi in 2026. This has massive repercussions for the team.
Next season, either Zhou Guanyu or Valtteri Bottas will need to find a seat elsewhere in the F1 grid or risk not being in the grid at all. Most are projecting that Guanyu will stay since he has fewer alternative options than Bottas does, but nothing is definitive right now.
The domino effect coming from Aston Martin resigning Fernando Alonso a few weeks ago is starting to spark movement among drivers. For example, previous rumors suggested Carlos Sainz may shift to Audi. With this new momentum, Sainz may try to secure a spot for the future now.
Hulkenberg may be leaving Haas, but not on poor grounds. He enjoyed his time with the team. This move may surprise them. They found a missing piece to their puzzle for next season, and potential replacements are already being considered.
After his surprising performance at Saudi Arabia, Oliver Bearman has gotten a lot of attention from multiple teams. This includes getting multiple FP1 opportunities with the American based team, though there are some concerns with his experience.
With the experience on the grid that Kevin Magnussen and Hulkenberg brought over the previous seasons, their pace has taken a large step forward. Haas now may be hesitant to sign the rookie to a full contract with much still to develop in their car.
Adrian Newey’s departure
Red Bull announced on Wednesday that the technical genius behind Red Bull’s recent success will be leaving the team at the start of the 2025 season.
This news came as a major shock to the F1 paddock. Following multiple media outlets rumoring of the change, the team confirmed the change and Newey will be looking for a new team.
Newey will be stepping back from technical decisions from the team for this season to “focus on final development and delivery of Red Bull’s first hypercar, the hugely anticipated RB17,” said Red Bull.
He joined the team back in 2006. Since then, due in large part to Newey’s efforts, the team earned seven drivers’ championships, six constructors’ championships and 117 total victories. He rode at the core of their recent dominance.
Major Upgrades
Following a strong performance at the Chinese grand prix two weekends ago, McLaren expects to get a major upgrade onto their car for Miami. The upgrade package was hinted at in China. Even without the upgrades, Lando Norris finished fastest in Sprint Qualifying and recorded a strong finish in the race to find the podium for the second time this season.
It isn’t just McLaren changing things up. Mercedes expects that recent developments for their W15 car could change their performance. They’ve struggled to keep up this season, but this weekend is an opportunity for them to prove the upgrades right.
With this being a sprint weekend, many teams hope to use the time well, but they’ll be hard pressed for time. With only one hour for practice one, it will be difficult for the teams to analyze the impact of the upgrades.
Alpine was able to get their upgrade on their car faster than predicted by the team. In China, they managed to get it on Esteban Ocon’s car in Shanghai. Now the full team will get this upgrade in Miami following successful development at the team facility in England.
Miami goes sprinting
With the first sprint race behind us, it’s time for a back-to-back sprint weekend with Miami holding its initial sprint event. This circuit proves tricky to nail, so multiple racing events could mix things up for the teams. With only one practice session, there is little room for mistakes this year in Miami.
The change in race weekend style also comes with design changes. With tweaks to major sponsorships that include more from North American companies, there are going to be different tweaks to team liveries, including a new livery for Ferrari with “fresh and unexpected colors,” said a Ferrari representative.
With Verstappen having trouble with the last sprint race, many are hoping he loses another groove while in Miami.
The weekend begins Friday, May 3, with free practice one and sprint qualifying in the afternoon.Saturday, May 4, is the sprint race and qualifying for the main show. The official grand prix begins Sunday, May 5, at 3 p.m.
Drivers Standings Through Round 5 (China)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 110 pts.
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – 85 Pts.
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 76 pts.
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – 69 pts.
- Lando Norris (McLaren) – 58 pts.
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 38 pts.
- George Russell (Mercedes) – 33 pts.
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 31 pts.
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 19 pts.
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 9 pts.
- Yuki Tsunoda (RB) – 7 pts.
- Olvier Bearman (Ferrari Reserve driver) – 6 pts.
- Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) – 4 pts.
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas) – 1 pts.
- Alex Albon (Williams) – 0 pts.
- Zhou Guanyu (Kick Sauber) – 0 pts.
- Daniel Ricciardo (RB) – 0 pts.
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine) – 0 pts.
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – 0 pts.
- Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber) – 0 pts.
- Logan Sargeant (Williams) – 0 pts.
Constructors Standings Through Round 5 (China)
- Red Bull Racing – 195 pts.
- Ferrari – 151 pts.
- McLaren – 96 pts.
- Mercedes – 52 pts.
- Aston Martin – 40 pts.
- RB Honda – 7 pts.
- Haas – 5 pts.
- Williams – 0 pts.
- Kick Sauber – 0 pts.
- Alpine – 0 pts.