Motor Racing

Miami Grand Prix 2026: What To Expect As F1 Season Resumes

2 minutes ago

| BY Sam Cox

All eyes on Miami for the Grand Prix on Sunday, with William Hill News previewing the action.

Check out William Hill’s Miami Grand Prix odds before lights out on Sunday

The Formula One season resumes this weekend after a prolonged break caused by race cancellations. Teams have had over a month to figure out what was going wrong in the first three races and tweak their cars to close the gap to Mercedes.

Miami Grand Prix Best Bets:

Oscar Piastri top three finish (10/11)
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen top six finish, Isack Hadjar top 10 finish (9/4)
Any British driver to win and Verstappen top six (3/1)

The Silver Arrows, as indicated by the F1 betting markets, were miles ahead of the pack. Their Constructors’ Championship lead is 35 points, with Ferrari their nearest rivals through the first three race weekends.

Miami Grand Prix Race Winner Odds:

George Russell – 11/8
Kimi Antonelli – 6/4
Oscar Piastri – 8/1
Lando Norris – 10/1
Charles Leclerc – 12/1
Lewis Hamilton – 14/1
Max Verstappen – 33/1

Major Changes

The FIA reevaluated its regulations during the break. Changes have been made to how teams can boost their power and there are going to be major upgrades across the grid, with McLaren likely to have the biggest changes between their pre-break car and what will take the track in Miami.

McLaren have had success with mid-season upgrades in recent history, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they took a major step forward this weekend.

There are going to be different strategies as teams figure out the best way to work with these new rules. Qualifying should be more flat-out than in the first few races of the year.

There’s the added variable of a sprint weekend, too. Teams have less time to get to grips with their new cars, so this becomes a particularly wide-open race.

Young and Old

Kimi Antonelli has marginally longer odds than George Russell this weekend, which the young Italian could argue is a little unfair. He has taken pole and won each of the last two races.

Miami is also a happy hunting ground for Antonelli after his sprint pole at this track 12 months ago. Already with several records to his name this year, the Mercedes’ youngster certainly has appeal at 6/4 to win this Sunday.

At the other end of the experience spectrum, Lewis Hamilton started the year well but was a long way off Charles Leclerc in Japan. Ferrari’s improvement hasn’t seen Hamilton in legitimate contention for race wins just yet, and the seven-time world champion has never finished on the podium in Miami.

Every car on the grid has some degree of intrigue coming into this weekend, but their relative starts to the season make Hamilton and Antonelli the most interesting among the contenders.

Miami Grand Prix Predictions

Oscar Piastri, in a small sample, has looked relatively comfortable with the new regulations. He finished second in Japan, almost 10 seconds ahead of Lando Norris. Where Norris has bemoaned the regulation changes, Piastri’s level-headed nature stands him in good stead as the papaya team look to fight back. We’ve seen how McLaren can improve significantly midway through the season.

Red Bull needed to make their car lighter. Even with turbulence behind the scenes, they should have been able to make progress during the lengthy hiatus. Max Verstappen is a two-time winner in Miami. Isack Hadjar was only five seconds off a points finish in Japan. Hamilton, meanwhile, has finished in the top six in every race.

So, we can get Hamilton, Russell, or Norris to win and Verstappen to finish in the top six at 3/1. That is excellent value. Russell is the pre-race favourite in a car that was miles ahead of the pack in the first three races. Norris’ McLaren is bound to be more competitive than it was. Hamilton is ‘fired up’ for the resumption of this season and was neck-and-neck with Leclerc in Australia and China.