Miami, FL – It’s race day at the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.
Charming afternoons await fans here in Miami and around the world. Max Verstappen has found the key to clinch pole position ahead of Lando Norris. In other words, we’re in for another intense showdown at Turn 1.
Chasing these two are Kimi Antoneri and Oscar Piastri, who also engaged in their own battles at Turn 1 during yesterday’s F1 sprint race.
But, like always in F1, tire strategy can change everything. What’s the plan for the 2025 Miami Grand Prix? Let’s take a closer look.
What happened at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix?
Last year’s race was predominantly a one-stop affair. Most drivers began with C3 moderate compounds and then switched to C2 hard compounds.
The tire wear was quite low, allowing for a large window during pit stops. Sergio Perez was the first in the lead pack to pit on lap 17. In contrast, Norris was still racing on lap 29 with his C3 tires, cleverly utilizing safety cars to switch to hard tires and take the lead.
Interestingly, only three drivers opted for C4 tires last year, which is a softer compound. This year, Pirelli has gradually softened their strategies, offering a medium compound for today’s race.
Your strategy options for 2025
This season, Pirelli has opted for softer tire selections. C3 is hard, C4 is medium, and C5 is soft.
This does raise questions about tire degradation, especially since this year’s tires have shown to be more robust. According to Pirelli, it still seems that a one-stop strategy is the fastest for Miami.
“If it stays dry, the data from yesterday and today could reinforce our strategic forecasts,” one team member said. Most of Saturday’s practice and sprints were affected by wet conditions.
Pirelli suggests a medium-hard strategy, with pit stops ideally occurring between laps 19 to 25. However, teams might consider sticking to hard tires for a while longer, possibly switching around laps 32 to 38.
There are, of course, alternative strategies to weigh, like kicking off with C5 soft tires in hopes of gaining early positions. This might necessitate a two-stop approach, switching between soft and hard.
Notably, all teams in the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls reserved two sets of hard tires, likely as a safeguard but also to offer flexible strategies.
Which tires are available to drivers?
Here’s a look at the tires each driver can use for the 2025 Miami Grand Prix:
As mentioned previously, all teams except VCARB have two sets of hard tires. Most have two fresh sets of C3 tires, although Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have one fresh and one used set.
Only a select few drivers—Lewis Hamilton, Liam Lawson, Alonso, Stroll, Nico Hülkenberg, Pierre Gasly, and Oliver Bearman—have fresh soft tires available.
How’s the weather looking?
Well, this is the unpredictable X factor.
As we observed yesterday, weather at the Miami Grand Prix can be quite tricky during rainy spells. While rain from earlier was clearing up by race time, visibility was still greatly compromised due to water spray from the wet tires.
Although many sections of the track had dried out, spots like Turn 11 were still prone to pooling.
If rain returns today, as forecasts indicate possible thunderstorms around race time, drivers might need to extend their use of intermediate tires. Yet, as highlighted during the F1 sprint, the front tire on the right tends to wear out quickly on dry track conditions.
“Although some sections were dry, lap times didn’t improve due to right-side tire wear causing understeer,” noted Isola.
“This issue became apparent after 10-12 laps in the sprint. It’s crucial to pay attention to the conditions—if drying patches appear, they need to strategize accordingly for those. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, they’ll have to consider pitting again for new intermediates,” he added.
Another factor to keep in mind for today’s race.
