Miami GP was full of heartbreak, chaos, and excitement for all fans.

Let’s start with Max fans

You guys probably had a something better than orgasm

Verstappen is so back

McLaren fans too

Lando and Piastri proved that they can compete with the best

Mercedes… I don’t want to talk about it anymore

And finally, Ferrari. I actually am quite positive on Ferrari’s new upgrade. Leclerc was doing good all weekend until that spin on the last lap. I will be going over their deficiencies that they had later in the email.

I don’t know what happened with Hamilton.

Shoutout to Colapinto who had one hell of a race getting his highest grid record

Aston Martin and Cadillac are Aston Martin and Cadillac

I think Oliver Bearman had a great race too. He finished P11 and pulled everything he had out of Haas.

Last but not least, smooth operator

Sainz, objectively, had a great race.

Although he didn’t get in the broadcast that much(other than complaining about Max), he, alongside Alex Albon, was leading the Williams to a double point finish.

Mercedes barely brought upgrades to the Miami GP.

All they tweaked were a front brake ducts.

Nothing else.

Another teams like Ferrari, McLaren, RedBull, Williams, and Alpine all brought major upgrades to their car.

This raised eyebrows for a lot of fans first time since season opener.

During the Miami Sprint race, McLaren and even Ferrari was faster than Mercedes in terms of race pace.

Finally, either Lando, Piastri, or Leclerc is going to win.

Antonelli got a pole position.

During the race he outpaced everyone…..

Out of nowhere he won the race.

Back to seeing big light blue in the podium.

Antonelli proved that he can win without upgrades and upgrades will be coming in the Montreal GP.

RedBull, McLaren, Ferrari fans.

We’re screwed.

For George Russell, I still think he is the biggest championship contender.

Yes, I sound crazy but to win WDC, you need consistency and experience. Look at 2022 Charles Leclerc. Started with a bang. Ended with a bust.

Although Charles had a good car relative to others at the beginning of the season, you never know.

Same for Russell. If you watched F1 last season, you know who the better driver is.

Do not let the first 4 GP determine his whole season.

This was undoubtedly Verstappen’s best performance of the season.

Qualified second, ended fifth.

The upgrade package worked.

Crucially, the team is understanding how the RB22 chassis works.

They are tuning these cars for both drivers and from Q3, the telemetry showed that RB22 chassis is very strong in high speed corners.

Verstappen gained significant amount of time on Mercedes between turn 11 and turn 16.

This is not because of their power deployment system.

It is because RB22 chassis and aerodynamical structures are faster in high speed corners rather than straights.

However, their main problem is still on the straights.

They lose significant amount of time from Mercedes and McLaren partially because of the power deployment issues.

When we look at Max’s race pace, it’s misleading.

He pitted early, having to race in hard tires for 51 laps.

This probably dragged his race pace down. His actual race pace is probably between Charles and George Russell.

What I mean by Max being back on the mix is that he is competitive with the top 3 teams again.

In Suzuka, Max was fighting off the pink Alpines. Yea.

The PINK ALPINES.

Max has escaped from the midfield but that doesn’t mean that he is the favorite to win every GP.

I feel like he is in a situation similar to Charles Leclerc now, below McLaren and Mercedes. Of course, you can never count Max out of winning one or two GP but as of right now, he doesn’t have the edge over McLaren nor Mercedes.

Scuderia Ferrari.

The name sounds super cool but their reputation the past decade made it sound like trolls

Maybe 2026 is different

All jokes aside, Ferrari brought the biggest upgrade package to Miami.

After FP1, they looked like the team to beat.

Charles was flying, and so was Hamilton. (Sort of)

The whole weekend for Charles wasn’t bad either. He got a podium in the Sprint session and during the GP, Charles was fast.

He led the race for the first 15 laps and the telemetry shows that Ferrari gains nearly four tenths on Mercedes between turn 11 and 16 by pure cornering speed.

Notice a trend?

Both RedBull and Ferrari are fast in high speed corners. The chassis is not the problem. Its the power unit and the engine.

Mercedes energy deployment out of corner 4, Ferrari lost three tenths in one corner.

That’s the power unit, not some magical aerodynamic changes.

In terms of engine problems for Ferrari, it is really difficult to address this in case of Ferrari.

It is significantly to change their engine that lacks 30 HP mid season than to make small aerodynamical changes.

We might have to wait a long time until their new power unit and engine upgrade package come.

This is the thing about Ferrari.

Their problem is not drag, chassis, nor the driver.

Its the engine.

And to fix an engine, it takes effort and time compared to other upgrades.

Bad news for Scuderia fans.

On top of that, overheating was a problem in Miami.

Their tires were overheating a lot compared to other cars.

But this is pretty easy to overlook because majority of the cars had the same problem.

Yea that was it.

This week’s overview was mostly about the “big” contenders.

RedBull, McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari.

If I had to rank their season trajectory:

As a Ferrari fan, it is depression again.

Next week, I am planning to write about the midfield updates. How Haas, Alpine, Audi, and the Racing Bulls are performing.

If you have any writing recommendations, tips, or any requests, shoot me an email.

See you next week.