New 10-year deal for Miami GP; How to watch 2025 race, start times and previous races

Formula One chiefs have agreed a new 10-year contract with Miami to hold a Grand Prix in the sunshine state of Florida until 2041.

Since 2022, F1 has travelled to Miami to race around the Miami International Autodrome, a unique street circuit that loops around the home of the Miami Dolphins NFL team, Hard Rock Stadium, writes Florida News Blitz’s F1 expert Oliver Carter.

2023 hosted the first Miami sprint race. F1 sprint races are usually around a third of the length of a usual race and take around 30 mins to complete - due to the sprint there is only one practice session instead of the usual three.

Free Practice One for the fourth Miami GP, taking place from May 2-4, starts at 5pm (UK time) on Friday, May 2, and is available on Sky Sports F1 and Now TV.

Sprint Qualifying takes place later in the day at 9.30pm (UK time), sprint qualifying is similar to regular qualifying with three sessions with the slowest five drivers being eliminated at the end of the first and second session, with the third deciding the top 10.

Shorter sessions

However sprint qualifying differs as the sessions are shorter with SQ1 being 12 minutes, SQ2 lasting 10 and SQ3 lasting just eight minutes, as opposed to the usual 18, 15 and 12 minute sessions.

Sprint Qualifying also forces drivers to use medium tyres in the first and second sessions, as opposed to the usual soft tyres in qualifying.

Drivers are allowed to use softs if they make it through to SQ3 however.

The second sprint race of the season kicks off the action on Saturday, starting at 5pm in the afternoon.

The first sprint in China saw Lewis Hamilton take his best Ferrari result with a victory around the Shanghai International Circuit.

Main race qualifying

Saturday’s action is rounded out by Qualifying for the main race, starting at 9pm the starting grid for Sunday will be decided.

The first Miami GP pole position in 2022 was taken by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, 2023 saw Red Bull’s Serigo Perez start at the front of the grid and 2024 saw four-time world champion Max Verstappen put his Red Bull in P1.

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Main race

Sunday is all about the race. May 4 at 9pm marks the start of the fourth trip around the Miami International Autodrome, a track that has seen Verstappen take two victories and Lando Norris’ inaugural trip to the top of the podium.

2022 race highlights

2022 marked the inaugural Miami GP, the first visit saw a Ferrari masterclass in qualifying with Leclerc starting P1 and team-mate Carlos Sainz in P2 - marking a Ferrari front row.

Verstappen rounded out the top three in Qualifying.

However in the race, Verstappen managed to overtake Carlos into turn 1, immediately putting the reigning champion in the hunt for P1.

While Leclerc defended well it only took nine laps for Verstappen to steal first position which he managed to hold on to for the rest of the race.

Despite the dominant Red Bull taking P1, Ferrari were still able to complete a double podium with Leclerc finishing P2 and Sainz in P3.

What started as a mostly uneventful 2022 race, lap 41 saw AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly and McLaren driver Norris come together.

This incident saw Norris’ tyre fly off his car, sending him in a spin and out of the running.

The damage from this incident was too much for Gasly to deal with forcing him to retire from the race.

Verstappen earned the driver of the day award for his drive, overtaking both Ferrari’s and managing to hold them off after the safety car restart that was forced by Gasly and Norris.

2023 race highlights

The second trip to Hard Rock Stadium in 2023 had a much different starting grid.

Leclerc spinning into a wall with just one minute 36 seconds left in Q3 saw a red flag end qualifying early.

This meant Mexico’s Perez took P1 for Red Bull, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso managed P2 for Aston Martin, and Sainz closed out the top three.

Verstappen, who had been on a dominant run of form leading up to the Miami GP, got very unlucky as he hadn’t yet put in a quick lap time in Q3, leading to him starting the race all the way down in P9.

This didn't stop Verstappen however, as he managed to lunge through the field, making it all the way up to P4 by just lap 10.

His heroics didn't stop there as he managed to extend the life of his tyres way longer than expected and following his pitstop came out just behind his team-mate, Perez, in P2.

After a short battle, at the start of lap 48 Verstappen went around the outside of his team-mate in turn 1 taking the lead of the race, marking an incredible drive from P9 all the way through to first.

Verstappen held on to P1 for the rest of the race, Perez stayed in P2 and Alonso rounded out the podium in his Aston Martin.

Verstappen’s incredible drive earned him his third win in five races as well as driver of the day honours.

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Inaugural Miami sprint

2024 marked the first Sprint in Miami and Verstappen took his first Miami pole, followed by Leclerc and Perez as the front three for the shortened race.

The sprint got off to a difficult start as a turn one incident saw Hamliton hit the side of Alonso creating a domino effect, sending Alonso into his team-mate Lance Stroll which sent Stroll into the side of Norris.

This incident retired both Stroll and Norris from the Sprint.

The rest of the race was mostly uneventful other than an incredible battle between Kevin Magnussen and Hamilton that eventually led to Magnussen being handed a 10-second penalty for cutting a corner mid battle.

Verstappen cruised to victory in the sprint, followed by Leclerc and Perez with the front three in qualifying ending the race in the same spots.

2024 race highlights

Qualifying for the main race saw the same three drivers from the first Miami GP, however they were in a different order with Verstappen in P1, Leclerc in P2 and Sainz in P3.

McLaren’s Norris was able to extend the life of his medium tyres, seeing him into P1.

Usually a pit stop would have sent Norris back down the standings, however on lap 28 an incident between Magnussen and home favourite Logan Sargent, sent Sargent into the wall out of the race as well as bringing out the safety car.

Under the safety car, Norris was able to pit whilst holding onto P1, giving him his best ever chance at his first race win.

Following the safety car restart, Norris was able to hold onto first place and over the remaining 25 laps was able to extend the gap between his McLaren and the Red Bull of Verstappen behind him.

Norris took his first ever F1 victory, a wholesome win for a fan favourite driver who celebrated massively with his team.

Norris was also congratulated by many other drivers on the grid such as countryman and seven-time world champion Hamilton and even Verstappen, who looked happier with Norris winning than he usually would with a victory of his own.

Norris took the top step of the podium followed by Verstappen and the Ferrari of Leclerc, marking the first podium of the season with drivers from three different teams.

Looking forward to Miami 2025

Hopefully the 2025 Miami Grand Prix can be as exciting and eventful as previous years.

Championship leader Oscar Piastri will hope he can take his McLaren to another victory, while team-mate Norris will try to bring back some memories of last year with another win to close the 10-point gap at the top of the drivers championship standings.

Verstappen will hope he can get back to the top step of the podium following his second place finish in Saudi Arabia - and Leclerc, who has seen a lot of success around Miami International Autodrome in the past, will hope to get a second podium in a row.

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