- Miami GP practice extended to 90 minutes amid rule changes and a five-week race gap.
- Changes will alter energy limits and bring new safety measures after Bearman crash.
- Mercedes leads standings but regulation tweaks threaten to reshuffle the order in Florida.
Formula 1’s governing body has extended the opening practice session at the Miami Grand Prix from 60 to 90 minutes.
The FIA announced the change on 23 April, following talks with all teams, drivers and other stakeholders. The extended session will run from 12:00 to 13:30 local time on Friday, 1 May, at the Miami International Autodrome.
Three reasons behind the decision
Formula 1 last raced at the Japanese Grand Prix, held from 27-29 March.
The cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds, due to ongoing conflict in the Middle East, left a five-week gap before Miami. That is the longest mid-season break in years.
Teams have not been able to test upgrades under race conditions during that time. More practice time before the Miami weekend, the FIA decided, would help them recover lost ground.
The second reason is a package of technical changes that all stakeholders agreed to on 20 April.
The maximum permitted energy recharge has been cut from 8MJ to 7MJ. The super clipping limit, meanwhile, has been raised from 250 kW to 350 kW.
A new 150 kW cap on the boost has been introduced to prevent massive closing-speed mismatches in races. A new “low power start detection” system has also been introduced, which will automatically trigger MGU-K deployment if a car shows abnormally low acceleration off the line.
The third factor is the sprint format itself. Miami hosts the second sprint event of the 2026 season. Under that format, teams get only one practice session before sprint qualifying begins.
Sixty minutes, with a long break behind them and significant rule changes to absorb, was not enough.
All sessions scheduled before FP1 will shift 30 minutes earlier to accommodate the change.
The rest of the weekend stays as planned, with sprint qualifying at 16:30 on Friday, the sprint race at 12:00 on Saturday, qualifying at 16:00 on Saturday, and the grand prix at 16:00 on Sunday.
Wolff urges caution on broader rule changes
The technical changes heading into Miami have stirred debate in the paddock.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, whose team leads both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships after winning all three races so far, asked for restraint before the stakeholder vote.
Speaking to select media, Wolff said the sport should “act with a scalpel and not with a baseball bat.” His point was clear: sweeping changes carry the risk of overcorrection, and Formula 1 has made that mistake before.
Wolff also pointed to the short sample size available so far. “It’s only three races,” he said, adding that decisions made in haste in the past had often needed to be walked back.
He stressed that drivers, the FIA, Formula 1 and the teams all share a duty to protect the sport.
The championship context
Miami marks the fourth round of the 2026 season. Kimi Antonelli leads the drivers’ championship, with Mercedes top of the constructors’ standings.
Ferrari sits second in the team fight, and McLaren is arriving in Florida with a substantially updated car, according to team principal Andrea Stella.
The five-week break has given teams further down the order time to reassess.
The new energy deployment rules could change the competitive picture, and the extra 30 minutes on Friday morning may prove significant in deciding who adapts fastest to them.
