Storms Could Force a Miami GP Schedule Change – Here’s What F1 Is Considering

The grand prix is currently set to start at 4:00pm ET, but earlier support races could be moved or even canceled to create a wider window to try to host the race, with any decision to move up the start time to be taken on Saturday.

The addition of Formula 2, a consequence of the cancellation of F1’s races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, means there are three support races planned ahead of the grand prix. If the risk of interruption was considered severe enough to require a timetable change, the grand prix would naturally take precedence.

In practice, that likely means the Porsche Supercup gets dropped first and the F2 race slides forward to open up room.

Weather modelling earlier in the week had projected the storm systems would bypass the circuit until after the checkered flag dropped, with Monday being the earliest a thunderstorm could arrive. Successive forecasts have brought that forward, with meteorologists now calculating a growing probability that the storms will reach the circuit during the race window itself.

The FIA’s instinct to wait for the latest possible data before acting is sensible. a forecast that moves this much in 48 hours can move again, but the window for making a clean scheduling call is closing.

The FIA has the power, should the forecast worsen or the timing of the storm’s arrival change, to change the timetable for Sunday to avoid the worst of the weather. This has happened at other grands prix in the past when races or qualifying have been moved into clearer slots.

The most obvious reference point is Brazil 2024, where a similar weather threat prompted a similar change. Miami’s situation is slightly more constrained because it’s a sprint weekend with a fuller support card, but the governing body has used this lever before and knows how to pull it.

The irony is that any rain that hits Miami on Sunday would be many drivers‘ first real experience of the 2026 cars in the wet, given that all main tests and all grand prix sessions so far have been dry for the most part.

Whether the race runs at noon, 4pm, or somewhere in between, that particular unknown isn’t going away.