Kimi Antonelli will start from pole after Formula 1 and the FIA moved the Miami Grand Prix three hours earlier on Sunday, shifting the race to 13:00 local time in Miami to avoid heavier rainstorms forecast for later in the afternoon.
The change was announced on Saturday after qualifying; the race had originally been scheduled to start at 21:00 UK time (16:00 local) but was reset to 18:00 UK time and 13:00 local. The joint statement from FIA, Formula 1 and the Miami promoter said the decision was taken because forecasts pointed to heavier rainstorms close to the original start time, and that the move was intended to minimise disruption and provide the maximum possible window to complete the Grand Prix in the best conditions while prioritising the safety of drivers, fans, teams and staff.
The Miami Grand Prix is a 57-lap contest, and organisers have made the change with the numbers in mind: three hours earlier on the clock, a larger daylight window to finish the race and Florida laws that require outdoor events to suspend immediately on the sound of thunder and to wait 30 minutes after the most recent clap of thunder or lightning before resuming. Those statutes effectively lengthen any weather interruption and were explicitly part of the calculus behind the earlier start.
The on-track form heading into Sunday adds another layer. Antonelli claimed pole for Mercedes on Saturday, with Max Verstappen taking second for Red Bull. McLaren had dominated the Sprint events earlier in the weekend, with Lando Norris leading a McLaren one-two and Oscar Piastri second, underlining how quickly the weekend order can shift when the weather moves into play.
There are also technical ramifications if the race runs wet. The rules ban Straight Line Mode and Boost Mode in wet conditions, which would prevent cars from deploying the extra 350kW of power out of corners. Teams that had cautioned for a dry, late-afternoon race now face the prospect of an earlier start but still of a race run under wet restrictions that change strategy, tyre usage and outright performance.
That friction — between a schedule change meant to preserve safety and the reality that weather can still dictate a limited, interrupted or power-restricted race — is the weekend’s central tension. The last time the FIA altered a race start time was at the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, and organisers here decided to move the Miami start after qualifying rather than wait for race day to judge conditions.
On the human side, Antonelli tempered the discussion about how the race might begin: "If it's a rolling start, definitely it will take that (standing start) element out of the way, but let's see," he said, acknowledging that the mechanics of a wet or interrupted race could strip away elements fans expect from a Grand Prix start.
The practical consequence is clear: starting at 13:00 local time gives organisers the best chance to finish the 57-lap race before the worst of the forecast storms arrive, but it does not remove the possibility of lengthy suspensions under Florida law or the imposition of wet-race technical restrictions that will limit power deployment and alter race dynamics. Teams, drivers and fans now have a tighter daytime window in which the weekend’s form — Mercedes on pole, Red Bull second and McLaren fast in the Sprints — will be converted into a race result.
