The F1 Miami GP is making its World Championship debut this weekend (6-8) surrounded by great expectations and with tickets long sold out. The Miami International Autodrome, a spectacular urban track that envelops the Hard Rock Stadium, will become the 11th American venue to host a Formula One GP.

The Austrian team arrives at the fifth appointment of the season in very high spirits following their 1-2 and the debacle of Ferrari in Ímola. Thanks to those results they have considerably reduced their distance from the Italians in both the driver and team standings.

Max Verstappen took all of the points up for grabs in San Marino. A faultless performance which stood in strike contrast with Charles Leclerc’s washout. The young Monegasque made a mistake that cost him a third place that was already his and pushed him down to sixth. The team from Milton Keynes has reacted fast to overcome its difficulties and has been able to neutralise Ferrari’s superiority, which had gone unrivalled from the start of the season.

Excluded from that fight, Mercedes will play a secondary role once again. No major updates are scheduled for the W13 this weekend, only some minor adjustments intended to mitigate its insidious porposing and the team’s disastrous start to the season. It will be exciting to see if Lewis Hamilton is defeated again by his young teammate George Russell.

Everything is now ready for the action to begin in the new American venue, which boasts three straights and a very slow sector. The F1 Miami GP is to consist of 57 laps of the Autodrome (5.412 each) which make up a total distance of 308,326km.

After dealing a ruthless blow to Ferrari in their own home, Red Bull aspires to claim what would be their third victory this season. Thanks to his crushing performance before the incredulous eyes of the Tifosi, Verstappen shortened his distance with Leclerc from 46 to 27 points. At a perfect weekend, the defending champion took every single one of the 34 points available after winning the sprint race, the race itself and claiming the fastest lap.

Red Bull’s optimism is justified for the F1 Miami GP. Verstappen has won the two races where he hasn’t retired, and the reliability issues of the RB18 seemed to have disappeared in Emilia-Romagna. Also, the blue missile is now between 4 and 8 kilos lighter, which will take a few tenths of a second from their top speed.

His teammate Checo Pérez, completely adapted to the new single-seater, is also in great form, as his two podiums in Australia and San Marino demonstrate. It was in fact his chase of Leclerc in Ímola that pushed the latter to make a mistake.

The Scuderia arrives at the Miami formula 1GP hoping to leave their home-race fiasco behind. The superiority of the Austrian team in their own territory, in theory, most favourable to the F1-75, took them by surprise.

In a repeat of his old inconsistent self, Leclerc, winner in Bahrain & Australia,made a mistake that cost him three places. The Monegasque forced his rhythm trying to steal third place from Pérez but ended up off track and down to sixth place.

Carlos Sainz, seemingly out of luck lately, suffered an even worse fate being forced to retire on the first lap after receiving an impact from Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren. This is the second race in a row where the Spaniard has not seen the chequered flag. Sainz, who must prove himself by defeating his teammate, something he has been unable to do so far this season, is starting to feel the pressure.

Images of F1 Miami GP: Red Bull Racing.