Racing
© Jonathan Borba
The FIA has extended the Miami Grand Prix’s only free practice session from 60 minutes to 90, giving teams extra preparation time on a sprint weekend after recent changes to Formula 1’s 2026 regulations.
Following consultation with stakeholders, the governing body confirmed that Friday’s FP1 will now run from 12:00 to 13:30 local time at the Miami International Autodrome. It also moved all other track sessions scheduled before FP1 forward by 30 minutes to accommodate the change.
The decision matters because Miami runs under the sprint format, which sharply reduces the amount of practice available across the weekend. With no FP2 or FP3, teams and drivers would otherwise have had just a single hour of running before the weekend moved into competitive sessions.
The FIA said the revised schedule reflects several factors rather than a simple timetable adjustment. In its explanation, it pointed to “the gap since the last grand prix,” the sprint format’s reduced practice time, and “recently announced regulatory and technical adjustments” that have increased the need for extra preparation.
Those changes are tied to the 2026 Formula 1 rules, with one summary describing them as “a raft of rule tweaks” to the engine regulations. Those regulations were confirmed on Monday after several key meetings, leaving teams with fresh details to absorb heading into a sprint event where track time is already at a premium.
That is what makes the extra 30 minutes significant in racing terms. On a normal weekend, teams can use multiple sessions to work through setup options, check correlation and adapt to new technical parameters. In Miami, that opportunity is compressed into a single window, so adding half an hour gives engineers and drivers a better chance to get up to speed before parc ferme conditions and competitive running begin to shape the weekend.
The FIA said, “as a result, the session will now run from 12:00 to 13:30 local time.” The revised timetable means FP1 will start at 17:00 UK time and 18:00 across much of mainland Europe.
For teams arriving at a sprint weekend with refined 2026 technical rules still fresh, that extra track time could shape how quickly they settle on set-up direction and how prepared they are once the Miami weekend moves straight into meaningful sessions.