Miami race brought forward by three hours because of storm threat

Sunday's Miami Grand Prix is moved forward by three hours to 18:00 BST because of the threat of thunderstorms. By Andrew Benson F1 Correspondent in Miami Updated 2 hours ago The Miami Grand Prix has been moved forward by three hours to 18:00 BST (13:00 local time) because of the threat of thunderstorms. And world champion Lando Norris says the Formula 1 drivers will be "thrown in at the deep end" by the expected wet weather on Sunday. The McLaren driver is one of the vast majority of the grid who have not yet experienced the 2026 cars in wet conditions, following the biggest rule change in the sport's history. "I don't know how wet it's going to be," said Norris, who qualified fourth behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

"It's going to be a big challenge on race day for everyone to perform, find the limit. I look forward to it." How to follow Miami Grand Prix on the BBC The change to the start time of the race comes after the previous two scheduled grands prix, in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, were cancelled because of the war in the Middle East. The decision was made by commercial rights holder F1 and governing body the FIA on Saturday evening in Miami. A statement from F1 and the FIA said it was made because "the weather forecast (predicts) heavier rainstorms later in the afternoon close to the original planned race start time". The statement added: "This decision has been taken to ensure the least amount of disruption to the race, and to ensure the maximum possible window to complete the grand prix in the best conditions and to prioritise the safety of drivers, fans, teams and staff." The aim is to try to finish the race before the worst of the weather arrives, which is forecast to be at about 15:00 local time (20:00 BST), one hour before the original start time.

That heavy rain, once it starts, is expected to stay for hours, so the fear was that sticking with the original start time would have meant the race could not be run. Local laws in the US mean that the race could be suspended if there is a threat of a lightning strike at or around the circuit. A series of protocols have been announced by the FIA defining how that would be administered either before or during the race. Moving it forward, the race is still likely to be wet, but the hope is the conditions will be acceptable for running the cars. F1 cars do run in the rain, but the limiting factor is always visibility from the vast amounts of spray thrown up by the cars, as well as aquaplaning if the amounts of standing water are significant enough to force the low-running cars to effectively float on top of water on the track.

Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri added: "It's obviously going to be a voyage into the unknown for everybody. Obviously, the margin for error when it's wet is significantly smaller." The forecast for rain comes during an unpredictable weekend in which form has fluctuated. McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari all brought major upgrades to their cars for this race while Mercedes have only minimal developments; they are saving their big step for the next race in Canada, where McLaren will have further new parts. McLaren dominated the sprint race with Norris leading a one-two ahead of Piastri, only to fall back in grand prix qualifying. Meanwhile, Verstappen hailed Red Bull's step forward after being a second off the pace at the last race in Japan as "incredible" and "massive".

Verstappen said: "Quite slippery. But let's first also wait and see how much water is going to come down, because that also makes a big difference." The rain makes relative competitiveness impossible to predict because no one has any idea how the cars perform compared to each other in such conditions, especially as so few drivers have even driven these new cars in the rain. Miami Grand Prix 18:00 BST on Sunday Listen on Sounds Live commentary on BBC radio; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app Full coverage guide Can you name every location to have hosted a US F1 race? Andrew Benson Q&A: Send us your questions Sunday's Miami Grand Prix is moved forward by three hours to 18:00 BST because of the threat of thunderstorms. Miami race brought forward by three hours because of storm threat