Miami Grand Prix predictions for the 2026 round.The Miami Grand Prix is just around the corner, and our writers have gathered to offer a prediction for how the weekend might go. With fresh rule tweaks and a significant gap for teams to potentially refine their next upgrades, there could well be a shake-up from the early order this time around. Here’s what the PlanetF1.com team thinks… Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust Removal of the ridiculous, but not revolution By Mat Coch Changes to the regulations during the April break promise to fix some of the issues witnessed in the racing product from this weekend. That’s good news on the surface, though I suspect it will be difficult to tell – save for the lack of the more ridiculous passes in Sunday’s race. But while subtle, mid-season rule changes do afford a new variable for teams to contend with. Some will negotiate that better than others. However, given the tweaks are occurring at power unit level, their impact on the pecking order is reduced. Mercedes and McLaren, for instance, should in theory remain where they were relative to one another given they share a common power unit. Ferrari and Haas will be the same. And given there’s no change to the power units per se, it’s all related to harvesting and deployment more than operation, and applied equally across all PUMs, we can’t really expect the tables to be turned. On top of that, teams will have done their homework and have strategies to address the revised regs, while the bigger teams with the best resources naturally have an advantage in that process. I don’t expect the rule changes to have much effect on the competitive order of things. Perhaps it will settle down some of the more ridiculous elements of the racing, but we’re not reinventing the wheel here. The bigger question will be which team has the best upgrade. That will have a far greater impact on the pecking order. Ferrari flair over McLaren magic By Michelle Foster And no room on the podium for Mercedes. Formula 1’s unexpected spring break was just the reset in the championship that Mercedes’ rival could only have dreamt of as they watched the Brackley squad win one grand prix after another, with two 1-2 results in three Sunday races. It’s not just the engine, the W17 chassis is also highly efficient. Rivals, though, have now had over four weeks to focus solely on upgrading their cars as they’ve been in the factories since March’s Japanese Grand Prix. That favours Ferrari, and more notably, McLaren as both teams have managed turn-your-season-around upgrades in recent years. Think Miami 2024 for McLaren, and Imola 2024 for Ferrari. However, Ferrari is coming at it this year from a better starting point than McLaren, with Oscar Piastri admitting the Woking team is chasing downforce. So while McLaren has bigger gains to make, Ferrari is closer to the Mercedes benchmark. The revised engine management regulations could also go some way – although only a little way – towards negating Mercedes’ engine advantage. Removing the top end of the energy management, for all the manufacturers, not just Mercedes, may dampen the Brackley squad’s dominance. At least that’s what rivals will be hoping. Could Ferrari upset the Mercedes party? By Henry Valantine Now, with this big gap in between races, Ferrari appears to have been one of the most active teams in terms of getting a car on track in April, through wet tyre testing at Fiorano and a filming day at Monza. I also think that the profile of the Miami circuit should work in the Scuderia’s favour, with the early evidence on track seemingly showing the SF-26’s chassis is at least as strong as Mercedes’, if not slightly better. That slow, technical middle sector along with the left-right sweeps of the first sector look on paper to work well with Ferrari’s package – though how much time the drivers will lose on the long back straight in the final sector may remain to be seen. Big upgrades will be coming into play throughout the grid, but if those largely cancel each other out, I would back one of Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc to take the fight to the Mercedes pair this weekend. Oscar Piastri for the win By Jamie Woodhouse McLaren sent a warning shot to Mercedes at Suzuka, with Oscar Piastri leading that charge. The papaya team now heads for Miami with what it has teased as an “entirely new” car. That should be another to send shivers up the spines of all rivals. Recent history has taught us that when McLaren does an upgrade, it does it right. Add in that fact that McLaren – and every team, granted – has had the last month to work on this package, free from the constraints of also going racing, and it is even more possible that McLaren has cooked up something good. I’ll stick my neck on the line and say it will be Miami Grand Prix-winning kind of good. Piastri will be the one to take the chequered flag. All eyes on Miami. This could be a thriller. Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists. You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!
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