FORMULA1 WKLY Issue #6 | Miami Preview | 2026
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A NOTE BEFORE WE BEGIN
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Before this week's newsletter, we want to acknowledge the passing of Juha Miettinen. The 66-year-old Finnish racing driver passed away on April 18 following a seven-car crash at the Nurburgring Nordschleife during the NLS4 qualifier. He was extracted from his car and taken to the medical centre, where all attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful. Six other drivers were taken to hospital for checks.
He passed away doing what he loved.
Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones.
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THE VERDICT IS IN
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Issue #5 promised you the outcome of the April 20 meeting. Now we have it.
All parties voted yes. The FIA, team principals, power unit manufacturer CEOs, and FOM reached unanimous agreement on a four-part package of regulation changes. Subject to a World Motor Sport Council e-vote, the majority come into force at Miami on May 3. The race start changes will be tested at Miami first, with full adoption based on what the data shows.
The process took three weeks, three meetings, and one very serious crash to get here. The changes are measured. Nobody got everything they wanted. But everyone agreed.
THE CHANGES
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QUALIFYING
The amount of energy a car is allowed to store per lap has been reduced. Less stored energy means less to deploy, which means drivers have to push harder rather than manage their pace. The goal is to make qualifying feel like qualifying again — drivers on the limit, not babysitting a battery. Cars will also be restricted to lower power output in certain parts of the lap, keeping the high power for the zones where overtaking actually happens.
RACE CONDITIONS
This one is directly about safety. Under the current rules, one car can be in full attack mode while the car behind is in energy recovery, moving significantly slower. That speed gap is what caused Oliver Bearman's 50G crash at Suzuka. From Miami, the gap between a car in attack mode and a car recovering energy is capped. The difference in speed between cars on the same straight will be smaller. Rear warning lights are also being updated. Cars in energy recovery mode will now flash their rear lights automatically to warn the driver behind. That system did not work at Suzuka. It will at Miami.
RACE STARTS
A new system will detect any car that accelerates too slowly off the line and automatically give it a power boost. This targets the unpredictable pile-up effect at the start where some cars surge and others crawl based on how much energy they have stored. Miami is a test. If it works, it stays.
WET CONDITIONS
Tyre warmers for wet weather tyres are being turned up after drivers said the tyres were not gripping quickly enough. Power delivery is also being reduced in wet conditions to make the cars easier to control. Rear lights in the rain are being simplified so following drivers can see more clearly.
WHAT IT MEANS
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The racing itself was not the problem. Three rounds produced overtake counts more than double the 2025 figures at every circuit. The FIA and F1 were not going to touch that. What they targeted was qualifying, safety at high speed, and the chaos at race starts. Toto Wolff said it best before the meeting: scalpel, not a baseball bat. That is what was delivered.
Experts are already calling it a first step. Bigger structural changes are not expected before 2027 at the earliest. But for Miami, the cars will be different. Whether that difference is enough is something Round 4 will answer.
UP NEXT — MIAMI GRAND PRIX
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May 1-3 · Miami International Autodrome
Round 4 arrives carrying more weight than any Miami GP before it. The regulation changes debut. McLaren return to a circuit they know well, desperate for a clean weekend after a reliability nightmare to open the season. Norris, a world champion, is fifth in the standings. He has not finished on the podium this season. That has to change at Miami.
Mercedes arrive as clear favourites. Antonelli leads the championship at 19 years old with two wins from three starts. Russell is 9 points behind him. The silver cars have been the class of the field and nothing from the break changes that.
Ferrari will be watching the regulation tweaks closely. Leclerc sits P4 in the standings and is the only non-Mercedes driver who has genuinely threatened at the front. If the changes level the playing field, Ferrari could close the gap.
Verstappen is eighth. Red Bull have no podiums. Lambiase is leaving in 2028. The four-time world champion is out of contract in the same year. Miami will tell us whether Red Bull have found anything in the simulator over five weeks, or whether the crisis at Milton Keynes is deeper than anyone is saying.
WHAT TO WATCH AT MIAMI
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Can McLaren finally get it together. Both Norris and Piastri need a clean, fast weekend. No retirements. No strategy disasters. The pace is in the car. The question is whether the team can execute.
Watch qualifying. The regulation changes reduce the energy available per lap, which could shake up the order. Mercedes have been untouchable through the first three rounds. A tighter energy window in qualifying might give Ferrari and McLaren the chance to close the gap.
Watch Verstappen off the line. The new race start system is being tested for the first time. Red Bull's starts have been a weak point this season. If the system works as intended, it removes one of the variables that has cost them early positions.
Watch the rear lights. It sounds minor. It is not. The flashing warning system for cars in energy recovery is brand new. Drivers will be reacting to it in real time for the first time in a race environment. How they adapt in the opening laps could influence the first corner battle.
And watch the weather. Miami in May can change fast. If rain arrives, the updated wet weather rules get their first test too.
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