Miami Grand Prix Start Time Advanced Three Hours Amid Thunderstorm Threat

M. m. AEST schedule. This change, decided by F1 and the FIA on Saturday evening in Miami, aims to minimize disruption and ensure the race completes before heavier rainstorms arrive.

M. AEST, with the worst weather forecast for around 15:00 local time, or 20:00 BST. F1 and the FIA stated that the decision prioritizes the safety of drivers, fans, teams and staff, providing the maximum window to run the grand prix under optimal conditions.

The weather forecast predicts heavier rainstorms later in the afternoon, close to the original planned race start time. S. require the race to be suspended if there is a threat of a lightning strike at or around the circuit.

M. on Saturday. This adjustment follows the cancellation of the previous two scheduled races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia due to the war in the Middle East.

The aim is to finish before heavy rain, expected to last for hours, potentially causing suspensions. Lando Norris, who won the Miami Grand Prix sprint race, said drivers will be 'thrown in at the deep end' by the expected wet weather. Norris finished ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in the sprint.

He qualified fourth behind Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. "It's going to be a big challenge on race day for everyone to perform, find the limit," Norris said. "Obviously, you can't afford to make any mistakes.

We're thrown in at the deep end, but that's what we're here to do. " The vast majority of the grid, including Norris, have not yet experienced the 2026 cars in wet conditions. McLaren dominated the sprint race with Norris leading a one-two ahead of Piastri.

"Nice to be back on the top step! A good day for us," Norris said after the sprint win. "It was hot out there and sweaty. I was pushing, trying to find that balance of pushing and staying relaxed to not make mistakes.

"Probably not too many. It's worked so far. We will change a couple things.

"Hopefully we have a bit more to come, but I'm sure the others will too. " Oscar Piastri, set to start seventh on the grid, finished second behind Norris in the sprint race. "I’m mostly satisfied. There’s obviously a little bit to find to try to stay with Lando, but overall, it was a good morning," Piastri said.

"We’ll try to see what we can do for qualifying. " Piastri described the wet conditions as a voyage into the unknown. "It's obviously going to be a voyage into the unknown for everybody. When it rains here, it normally is pretty torrential, so it could be an interesting day," he said.

"It's just going to be what happens with the power-unit, how you get power, where you get power is in a computer's hands. Just making sure that that does roughly what we expect. " Kimi Antonelli finished fourth in the sprint race but was demoted to sixth for excessive track limits breaches and received a five-second penalty.

Antonelli will start on pole position for the main race, with Max Verstappen alongside him on the front row. Verstappen finished a second off the pace at the last race in Japan. Charles Leclerc commented on his third-place sprint finish.

"The upgrades worked well. Thanks to the team that have done massive work over these five weeks," Leclerc said. "I'm not satisfied with P3. We wish we were higher but McLaren have brought significant upgrades as well and done a big step forward but we are not too far off.