Miami Grand Prix Preview: Red Bull and Ferrari set to slug it out on the streets of Miami

The fifth race of an already thrilling Formula One season takes place from the inaugural Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, with a temporary circuit adorning the outside of the Hard Rock Stadium in Florida.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc leads the driver standings by 27 points, despite Max Verstappen’s second victory of the campaign last time out at Imola. The Scuderia will also be looking to extend their leads in the constructor standings, where they currently have a slender 11-point lead over Red Bull.

All the teams are still learning about their new cars, and with a completely new track to negotiate this weekend, we preview what should be a fascinating race below.

Welcome to Miami

It’s no secret that Formula One has been looking to crack America for a number of decades now. It’s a huge market, with a rich motor sport heritage and extremely passionate fans. 10 US venues have already hosted a Formula One race over the years, with the first US Grand Prix being staged in 1959 at Sebring.

Despite this long F1 history, interest never quite caught on in the mainstream consciousness and tracks struggled to turn a profit from hosting the most expensive circus in motorsport. But thanks to a change in marketing strategy, including the success of Netflix’s Drive to Survive documentary series, when over 400,000 people descended on the Circuit of the Americas in Texas in October, it was clear Formula One had hit the big time.

When F1 announced the inaugural Miami Grand Prix would be held in 2022, such was the demand for tickets, they were finally convinced to add a third US race to the calendar for 2023, when the Las Vegas Grand Prix returns for the first time since 1982.

With a temporary track having been laid around the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins, there are plenty of unknowns about the circuit we will race on this weekend, which in theory should produce plenty of excitement, particularly given that we’re still in the relative infancy of this new generation of cars.

With an average speed of 135mph, top speeds nudging towards 200mph and some extremely narrow sections in the latter part of the lap, it should be a real test for the drivers and teams alike. There are three DRS zones and two long straights which should present opportunities to overtake in the race, with key flashpoints likely to come at turn one, turn 11 and turn 17.

Little is known though about how the tyres will react to the new circuit and teams will need to gather a lot of data in the practice sessions, as strategy that will play a key role in success on Sunday.

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Tense Title Battle to Resume

Although it’s hard to predict which of them will be fastest this weekend, given what we have seen so far this season it seems reasonable to suggest that Red Bull and Ferrari will be battling one another for the win again this weekend. With two victories a piece, including a one-two and a grand slam each, somehow it looks as though the 2022 title battle could play-out with as much drama as the 2021 season.

In terms of track characteristics, of the four circuits we have raced at so far this season, Miami appears most similar to the Saudi Arabia circuit in Jeddah, with twisty corners taken flat out, as well as long straights and tight walls to keep the drivers honest. Given that Max Verstappen won the race in Jeddah, Red Bull will be confident their car will suit the new track in Miami too.

Ferrari look as though they have a very strong all-round package this year however and have been on the pace at every circuit they’ve been at since they took it out the box in pre-season testing. Although they have finished behind Verstappen twice this season, the Red Bull’s have seen question marks around reliability, something which hasn’t plagued Ferrari up to this point and they took the most comprehensive win of the season via Charles Leclerc in Australia.

There may be some flip-flopping between the fastest car at the different circuits we go to, but at this stage you could argue that the two teams are closer in terms of performance than Mercedes and Red Bull were last year and that should make for a thrilling battle in both championships as the season unfolds.

As for this weekend, Verstappen is currently evens favourite to win the race, with Championship leader Charles Leclerc available at 11/8. Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez could be value selections, at 12/1 and 10/1 respectively, given that all the drivers will need to learn a new track and as we’ve seen from previous street-style circuits, mistakes in qualifying or in the race can be particularly damaging.

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