Five key questions ahead of the Miami Grand Prix

      After an unplanned five-week break, the teams are preparing for the Miami Grand Prix, and everyone will have to get back into the familiar rhythm of a race weekend. The official championship website has highlighted five key questions ahead of the fourth round of the season.

      Will Mercedes remain in the lead? The Mercedes team has fulfilled the promise it made to fans at the start of the season: its drivers have won all three races, and it leads in both championship standings. Of course, the task now is to maintain and build on the gained advantage, so the team from Brackley, like its rivals, is actively using the April break to refine its already fast car. But everyone remembers that in Suzuka, Oscar Piastri, although he lost to the Mercedes duo in qualifying, finished 2nd in the race and could even have fought for victory, as his McLaren has the same M17 E Performance power unit. It wouldn't be surprising if Oscar and Lando Norris noticeably improve in Miami, but the same can be expected from Ferrari and some other teams.

      It will also be interesting to see how the intra-team rivalry between the Mercedes drivers develops. Currently, the 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli leads the personal standings, having won two consecutive Grands Prix, but it seems that George Russell is not too troubled by his teammate's successes and intends to make a comeback.

      How good is the upgraded McLaren MCL40? The start of the season for the Woking team has been unsuccessful, and one reason is that last year they fought for the championship until the very end of the season. Andrea Stella, their team principal, believes that the McLaren engineers have almost figured out the nuances of the new Mercedes power unit, but Oscar Piastri honestly admits that the MCL40 chassis still lags behind the competitors' technology. McLaren claims to be preparing a "completely updated car" for the races in Miami and Canada, and although the implementation of all these improvements is planned, this team has a knack for catching up, as they successfully demonstrated in previous seasons.

      Can Ferrari's drivers contend for victory? Ferrari is in second place in the Constructors' Cup, and the team's performance in 2026 is clearly better than in 2025, but this was to be expected, as Maranello switched to preparing for the new championship very early, more than a year ago. Charles Leclerc has been on the podium in two races, Lewis Hamilton has also clearly regained his spirits, and driving the SF-26 car, according to the seven-time world champion, brings him joy. This is happening for the first time since 2021. On one hand, Scuderia still lags behind Mercedes in speed; on the other hand, they are preparing to present a whole range of technical innovations in Miami, hoping to at least reduce the gap from the leaders.

      Will Red Bull Racing improve? This year, Red Bull Racing is using power units of its own production for the first time, created in collaboration with Ford, and these engines have proven surprisingly reliable and quite effective. However, the new RB22 chassis, built in Milton Keynes, cannot be said to be the same, and Max Verstappen and Isaac Hadjar are currently facing noticeable difficulties as they struggle to achieve optimal balance. As a result, Red Bull Racing has to fight for positions in the second half of the top ten or even outside of it, which is, of course, quite unusual for this team. It is enough to say that they currently have only 16 points, while Mercedes has 119 more. In fact, this team is performing at the level of Racing Bulls, which has never happened before.

      However, Red Bull Racing also knows how to come back, although it is clear that the current situation for the team is much more complicated than in previous seasons. It will be interesting to see how this situation changes.

      What to expect from Aston Martin and Williams? Of course, Red Bull's difficulties pale in comparison to the problems faced by Williams and Aston Martin, although there were high expectations for both teams. However, they are now competing for the unenviable title of "Disappointment of the Season." The new Williams chassis turned out to be too heavy, and the team is doing everything possible to lighten the FW48. At the same time, work is underway on an updated aerodynamic package, and in Grove, they hope that this will yield initial results in Miami.

      Undoubtedly, the April break has benefited Aston Martin and Honda's engine manufacturers, whose new power unit must currently be considered the worst in the 2026 championship. Much has been written and said about the problems of the Japanese engine manufacturers, but the chassis, created for the first time in Silverstone under the guidance of Adrian Newey, is also not among the best creations of the recognized aerodynamic genius. Both teams will bring upgraded cars to Miami; however, their rivals are also not standing still, so the lagging teams can only hope that they are progressing at a faster pace than their immediate competitors, whom they are trying to catch up with. The two North American rounds of the season will partly answer the question of how well they have managed to solve their problems.