Five big questions ahead of F1 2026 season resumption at Miami GP

The 2026 Formula 1 season resumes after an enforced break in April this weekend with the Miami Grand Prix.

F1 has observed an unexpected five-week break in the calendar after the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix due to the Iran War, with racing set to return for the first time since the Japanese Grand Prix on 29 March.

With teams having time to work on their challengers and extract crucial learning from the opening three races, as well as a raft of rule tweaks being introduced, this is not a normal reset for F1.

That has left several big questions that are likely to be answered once the teams get back together on track from Friday in Miami…

Are the rule tweaks enough to fix F1 2026?

During the April gap, F1’s governing body the FIA revealed several adjustments to the rules in a bid to address some of the biggest concerns following the first three rounds of the new season.

The aim is to allow the drivers to drive more flat out and naturally in qualifying by reducing the amount of energy management required via hardware changes, as well as alleviating safety fears around dramatic closing speed differences between cars during races.

The rule tweaks have generally been welcomed by drivers and team bosses alike, and are viewed as being a sensible step in the right direction. The drivers think they will feel a difference behind the wheel, particularly during qualifying, but it might not be as noticeable visually for fans watching on TV.

There are also question marks over how racing will be impacted by the changes. Across the opening three races, we have become accustomed to seeing fluid racing, with cars swapping positions for several consecutive laps.

It is generally expected that the changes will have a minimal effect on wheel-to-wheel racing, but we will have to wait to see how things play out in Miami to get a better idea.

The drivers we have heard from in the break seem to be happy with the direction F1 has taken, but whether or not it is enough to appease the 2026 rules’ harshest critic, Max Verstappen, remains to be seen.

Will Mercedes still be ahead?

Mercedes has been the clear team to beat early on in 2026, having taken all available victories on offer and locked out the front row of the grid at each of the three opening races.

Such results have enabled the Silver Arrows to open up a comfortably early advantage at the top of both world championships, with surprise points leader Kimi Antonelli seemingly in a head-to-head title battle with team-mate George Russell.

While Mercedes holds a sizeable advantage over the rest of the field, particularly when it comes to the mighty performance of its power unit, McLaren ran it close last time out in Japan.

The break was bad timing for Mercedes, who would have much preferred to continue racing and make the most of its competitiveness. Will Mercedes’ rivals have used the time wisely to catch up?

Can McLaren’s new car put it in fight for victory?

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella revealed that the Woking outfit will be bringing an almost entirely new car to the Miami Grand Prix as it pushes hard to reduce its deficit to Mercedes.

Miami is a race McLaren has won the past two years and the significant upgrade package will certainly raise hopes that the reigning world champions can take the fight to Mercedes, especially after its strong Suzuka showing.

The five-week break has also given McLaren additional time to better optimise its Mercedes engine, something it had not got the best out of in the opening races. Encouraging progress was made in the two-week gap between China and Japan, so McLaren will be hoping for even more gains in this area.

McLaren has cautioned that this may not result in any wholesale changes to the pecking order, pointing to the fact all of its rivals have the same amount of time to improve their cars and conduct key learnings.

But there is little doubt the reset has given McLaren a chance to close the gap and potentially get back on level terms with Mercedes after enduring a difficult start to the campaign.

How much has upgraded Ferrari improved?

Ferrari is another team tipped to make a big step forward in performance in Miami with a sizeable upgrade planned for introduction.

Japan aside, Ferrari and its drivers have been the closest challengers to Mercedes this season, and the Italian squad has targeted the April break as an opportunity to hunt down its main rival.

Ferrari and McLaren are set to have something of an ‘upgrade-off’ in Miami, with both targeting the same goal. Could Ferrari’s upgraded SF-26 take the fight to Mercedes and threaten its 100 percent winning start to the new era of regulations? Miami’s sprint weekend will go some way in revealing if Ferrari has done enough, or still has work to do.

Have teams solved their biggest problems?

Several teams will have been grateful for the racing hiatus in April, including Red Bull. The Milton Keynes outfit is looking to haul itself out of the midfield and move towards the front of the grid after a testing start to 2026.

Red Bull has been fighting in the midfield so far, leaving the team sitting sixth in the constructors’ championship with just 16 points. You only need to look at last season as proof of how Red Bull can turn things around, but a similar level transformation will needed to avoid a bruising campaign. Upgrades are expected to come in Miami to improve Red Bull’s fortunes.

The same can be said for Williams, whose car is badly off the pace and overweight. The team is aggressively looking to shed weight from its car, which is the fastest immediate solution to its current performance problems.

Aston Martin is also playing catch up as it plans to bring a revised package to Miami. Honda has made progress with the countermeasures it has introduced so far to improve its reliability woes, and further steps in the right direction will come in Miami. The Silverstone squad will be hoping any gains are big enough to move it away from the very rear of the grid and get back into midfield contention.