🏁 South Beach Sprint

PLP Season 2 Edition 18

It’s Race Weekend!

This week we kick off the first of 3 U.S. races in Miami with another Sprint weekend, and for the first time in a month and a half we’ll have some desirable start times. However, good start times also means a greater chance of weekend plan conflict… cut to me trying to catch some Sprint action on my phone during an off key version of “Happy Birthday” in between periods of pure chaos at kid birthday party this weekend.

If you are reading this Friday morning and are a junkie like me, don’t forget to kick off the weekend with FP1 in a few hours. For the full weekend schedule (in EDT) we got:

• FP1: Friday, May 3rd @ 12:30pm

• Sprint Qualifying: Friday, May 3rd @ 4:30pm

• Sprint Race: Saturday, May 4th @ 12:00pm

• GP Qualifying: Saturday, May 4th @ 4:00pm

• Grand Prix: Sunday, May 5th @ 4:00pm

Quick Quiz !

From our last question on how you would rate the Chinese GP weekend from 1-5:

A mixed bag! Here’s what some of you thought of the race:

• “Racing in the wet has always been the divider of drivers. It showed with Lewis getting second on the grid for the sprint even with how bad the car has been this year. Most people miss the point that we are getting to watch a generational talent in max. What remains to be seen is what happens when and if Adrian Newey leaves. ” These are all great points!

• “They need to have someone else on the top step of the podium now & again !” Agreed! Believe it or not, RBR won’t be on top forever… and maybe sooner rather than later with all the recent news + rumors flying around.

• “Safety car 2x robbed Perez of 2nd, but over all, duels on track were ho hum.”

Miami GP Preview

Back-to-back Sprint races is a nice treat, so enjoy this one because the next one won’t be for another 5 races - in Austria at the end of June. It’s the first time Miami has hosted a Sprint in it’s illustrious, famed, world-renowned 3-year tenure on the F1 schedule.

The track has an Albert Park vibe in that it’s a temporary track that’s more of a street circuit, although it was designed with a more permanent feel. It’s set in the Hard Rock complex next to the Miami Dolphins (boooo) football stadium, and features 19 corners, 3 DRS zones, a loooong straight, top speeds of 211mph, and even some small elevation changes.

The track is low grip and will see high evolution, meaning timing in qualifying sessions will be crucial as lap times drop throughout the session. Excessive drag on the long straight will be costly, even though you do want some slow cornering help through turns 11-16 where the circuit is rear-limited. Shoutout to our idol @FDataAnalysis for this breakdown.

It’s always a party in Miami, so you know there will some over-the-top quintessentially-American pomp and circumstance. To which I say, why not? We’ve also got upgrades from McLaren, Mercedes, and Alpine, so watch to see if they can figure out the optimal setup in the only 1 hour practice session before it counts.

• 5 storylines to watch

• Watch Max’s impressive performance in Miami last year

• Alpine co-owners plan to attend with their significant others

• Premium subscribers don’t forget to scroll to the bottom if you want to play this week’s F1 bingo

Uncle Sam Voices Support for Andretti

Perfect timing for the first U.S. race of the season with the host country doing what it does best: Filing legal challenges. Yea baby. 12 U.S. Congress Representatives wrote a letter to the F1 owners demanding justification of their decision to deny Andretti’s bid to join the grid in 2026, citing anti-competitive actions from the group. From the letter: “The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 outlaws unreasonable restraints on market competition to produce the best outcome for the American consumer.” Oh damn they coming in with the Sherman Act? This is serious. You don’t just drop a Sherman Act reference if you don’t mean business.

Andretti Global praised the letter, saying “We are grateful to the bipartisan members of Congress for their support in challenging this anti-competitive behavior. We remain committed to bringing the first US works team and power unit to F1 and to giving American fans a home team to root for.” Heck yea home team!

Always odd when the government gets involved in sports. Remember during the steroid era in baseball when they questioned Sammy Sosa and he pretended to not be able to speak English. Classic. And honestly smart I’d try to pull the same move if I was him. Anyway, the anti-competition angle does make sense and many people agree that letting Andretti in is the right move. This government intervention has my support. Even if the government does have better things to do. Like fix the tax code and filing process so yours truly doesn’t lose his mind every April 14th.

Hulkenberg Signs with Sauber

In a move that pretty much everyone saw coming for a couple month now, last Friday it broke that Nico Hulkenberg has signed a multi-year deal with Sauber (Currently referred to as Kick Sauber, full name Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, and hopefully known as simply “Audi” starting in 2026). The 36 year old will return to the team he represented in 2013 and is looking forward to Audi’s impending takeover, saying “To represent the factory team of such a car brand with a power unit made in Germany is a great honor for me.”

With Ocon and Gasly possibly on the move, he has a chance to take the crown of most homogenous driver-team nationality pairing. Move over team Frenchie, team German-Guy is coming for you. Ok the name needs work.

Although he just set the record for starts without a podium (208) last race in Shanghai, his career has seen an impressive rebound after not having a seat for 3 years. He’s had a strong start with Haas this season, and might be able to make some noise if Audi can deliver a good car. Would love to seem him get a podium. And record or not, getting that many starts in such a competitive sport must mean he’s doing something right.

With one seat locked up, Audi has been pushing to get Sainz in the other. While Carlos seems like the most likely candidate barring any Max Merc Madness, Ocon appears to be their second choice at the moment. While it’s certainly a gamble, if I’m either of them I’m signing on the dotted line and taking a chance on seeing what Audi can do in 2026.

Down the Grid

Tech Talk

• A quick 1 min video from The Race demonstrates how different the 2026 cars will be: 50/50 internal combustion/electric power unit, less drag (and therefore a smaller DRS effect), active aerodynamics (think reducing wing levels on straights), and smaller, lighter cars overall.

• Jump start rules have been clarified after Lando’s eagerness in Jeddah earlier this year. Are they going to clarify the rules for tattling on drivers who jump start as well? Looking at you George…

• Not quite tech but car related: Two new liverys have been revealed for Miami. We got Bluederia Ferrari vs RB Chameleon 🔽 

Off the Grid

• Netflix has revealed a first look at “SENNA”, a miniseries about the life of the 3x champ, coming later this year. Heck yea. Add it to the growing list of race media I can’t seem to find the time to consume.

• It’s not only the Drive to Survive effect: Content creators and social media have had an even bigger impact for fans wanting to keep up with everything F1

• Check out this realistic Monaco miniature F1 model that can autonomously run an F1 race. This is sweet. Apparently it took 11 years and 150K working hours. I believe it.  

Enjoy the weekend, here’s to hoping someone steals the top podium spot from Max in at least one of the two races. Also, these are always fun… is history about to repeat itself? 🔽 

Questions? Comments? Did we get something wrong (never 😁)? Let us know ▶ [email protected]

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