KEY FACTS: Three DRS zones, sprint format and soft compounds

Following a two-week break, Formula One drivers will be back in action with Miami hosting Round 6 of the 2025 F1 season before the field heads to the first European race in Imola in two weeks' time.

The Miami International Autodrome is 5.412 kilometres long, the race being run over 57 laps. The layout incorporates parking lots, service roads and some public roads with a total of 19 corners, seven to the right and 12 to the left.

The site is generally flat but some elevation changes have been built in, especially between turns 13 and 16, where the track runs under overpasses, including on and off-ramps for the Florida Turnpike, with an uneven surface.

As at Jeddah two weeks ago, there are three DRS zones here, the ends of which provide the track’s best overtaking opportunities, at turns 1, 11 and 17. The combined effect of slipstreaming and DRS produces very high speeds: last year, Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) hit 355 km/h in the race.

As for the tyres, Formula One's sole tyre supplier Pirelli will go a step soft this year, bringing the C3, C4 and C5 compunds.

The Miami Grand Prix is the second of six Sprint format events on the calendar. Last year, a significant rule change was introduced, not to the actual format, but to the parc ferme regulations for these races.

Up until 2024, car set-up could not be altered as from the start of Sprint Qualifying, whereas since last year, parc ferme rules are suspended from the end of the Sprint Race to the start of qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

This means car set-up can be modified based on data the teams acquire during the Sprint race, which is really the first true opportunity for a simulation run under Grand Prix conditions, especially in terms of assessing car behaviour, particularly the behaviour of the tyre compound chosen for the short race.

The only key difference is the fuel load, as Sprint races only require one third of the fuel needed for the main event. However, teams all have simulation tools that allow them to effectively calculate how fuel weight affects tyre performance.