Kimi Antonelli leads the driver’s standings with 72 points heading into Miami, with new rules and car upgrades marking a fresh phase of the season. Photo: AFP
MIAMI:
Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli, the youngest championship leader in F1 history, will seek to complete a hat-trick of early season victories this weekend as Formula One returns after a month’s enforced absence due to the Middle East war.
The 19-year-old Mercedes driver, triumphant in China and Japan, leads team-mate George Russell, who won the season-opening Australian race, by nine points ahead of what is effectively the start of another season, complete with revised rules and widespread car upgrades, at the Miami Grand Prix.
“After a month without any racing, we are ready to get back on track,” said Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff. “We’ve used this break to analyse the opening races, address our weaknesses and rase our level.
“We’ve started the season well, but that counts for very little if you stand still. We know our competitors will have used this time to improve and build a deeper understanding of their cars so we expect the field to be closer in Miami.
“That’s the reality of F1 – it’s a challenge we must rise to.”
Antonelli’s early triumphs made him the first Italian driver since Alberto Ascari in 1953 to win two consecutive races. Ascari completed his treble that season.
Wolff also addressed the tweaks to the regulations to be introduced in Miami, aimed at making the cars and the spectacle more natural with reduced battery re-charging in qualifying and increased super-clipping power to reduce dangerous speed differentials.
He said the revised rules would “respect the DNA of our sport” and deliver an improved spectacle without any significant reduction to Mercedes’ early-season performance advantage.
For Mercedes, this Sunday’s race is an opportunity for a first win in Florida since the event was launched five years ago. It has been won twice by four-time champion Max Verstappen for Red Bull and twice by McLaren with a win apiece for world champion Lando Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri.
‘Completely new car’
They will harbour hopes of claiming points too with success in Saturday’s sprint race, won last year by Norris, but Ferrari are widely expected to be strong contenders too as they arrive in Miami, like McLaren, who are bringing an almost “completely new car”, with a heavily revised package.
“It was one of our best tracks for pure pace, compared to others, last year,” said Norris. “It’s a different track and it may still suit us a little more than others.”
After winning in 2022 and 2023, Verstappen will be aiming to stop Mercedes’ winning run and revive Red Bull’s challenge this year after a discouraging start. He is ninth, on 12 points, 60 adrift of Antonelli, with team-mate Isack Hadjar 12th on four.
Ferrari’s duo of Charles Leclerc and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton are third and fourth respectively on 49 and 41 points with many paddock observers suggesting they are poised to fight for a first win since Carlos Sainz’s success in Mexico in October 2024.
Leclerc’s eighth and last win came at Austin, Texas, shortly before Sainz’s triumph while Hamilton is chasing his 106th win and first since the 2024 Belgian race before he joined Ferrari. After a desultory first year, the Briton said he is relishing the challenge of a new formula that has seen him rediscover his racing mojo.
“We’re all re-charged after the break,” said Russell, expressing the feelings of most drivers. “I’m hoping we can continue where we left off.”
It will mark newcomers Cadillac’s first racing appearance on home soil in the United States when Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas venture out at the Hard Rock Stadium in a new American livery.
