Heavy showers in Miami lead to red flag for F1 Academy, Formula 1 also threatened by wet conditions

American Chloe Chambers was on pole position after a strong qualifying session on Saturday. Beside her on the front row was teammate Alisha Palmowski, while the first race winner, Doriane Pin, was set to start third. Right before the formation lap, a downpour burst over the street circuit, making conditions even more difficult for the eighteen participants. Emma Felbermayr (Sauber) quickly lost control in the spray and ended up in the runoff area at turn 17. Not much later, Ella Lloyd (McLaren) followed her example.

Nicole Havrda (Amex) also struggled and spun during the second formation lap. It was hard for the drivers to see due to the heavy rainfall, as the rain continued. Eventually, the red flag was waved, and officials announced a new start time of 18:31 BST, about 26 minutes after the original start. The hope was that the rain would stop. That hope was in vain: the race was definitively cancelled. A bitter pill for the drivers who had prepared for a challenging wet race in Miami.

Given the rainfall and the type of asphalt, it is unlikely that the track will completely dry up before the start of the Formula 1 race, meaning we are likely to see similar conditions to those during the sprint race on Saturday. Max Verstappen will start the feature race from pole position, with Lando Norris beside him on the grid. The Mercedes team shares images of the circuit conditions in the X-message below.