Miami 2026

Round 4 of 22: a diary entry from my favorite race weekend yet

This was, without a doubt, my favorite race weekend yet. The Miami GP is an American F1 creator’s Super Bowl.

And Super Bowl it was.

It took me sixteen in-person races, 252 podcast episodes, and over four years of creating daily F1 content to earn a paddock pass with my picture on it. A pass with no time limit, no chaperone.

Not that I’ve ever felt entitled to one. And not that a paddock pass is necessary validation. But it is a symbol of trust and a massive privilege.

I can’t thank Apple TV, F1, the FIA, and the Miami GP team enough for the experience. Thank you to any and all champions in this sport who have ever vouched for me. And most of all, thank you to my audience for supporting, engaging, and making it possible.

I only say all this to provide a counterfactual to the picture social media paints of how easy it is to get here. Every F1 creator I’m close with has worked his or her a** off, largely for free. This is the first race it felt like that work was noticed, taken seriously, and rewarded at scale with access and opportunities by the “institution” that is F1.

For most of us, this is a full time job alongside our other full time jobs. We’re students, employees, parents, founders, and professionals in other walks of life. I missed important classes at Stanford to be there.

For me, creating F1 content has always purely been for the love of the game. It feels nice when it loves you back.

What does a creator’s race weekend schedule look like?

I get a lot of questions about what our race weekend schedules actually look like.

It’s hard to generalize. We’re all different. Traditional media schedules vary, sure, but I'd guess their standard deviation is much tighter than ours. Every race weekend looks completely different for me.

In Miami, I sat in a 10-person media roundtable with Stefano Domenicali and Eddy Cue, met with senior F1 personnel, spoke on a Female Quotient panel, and interviewed team principals, CEOs, and execs.

I also went on DJ Khaled’s yacht, was loaned a ~$5K watch for the weekend, interviewed Patrick Dempsey, attended a LVMH party, was invited to Lily Muni He’s omakase dinner, and drank Whispering Angel in the paddock.

The strange dichotomy of a race weekend is not lost on me.

Here was my actual schedule:

Another massive thanks to Google Gemini and McLaren for the hospitality.

As one of you DM’d me, “Looks like you would have to have a helicopter with excessive speed to make all these events.“ Factor in Miami traffic, making content, and some room for spontaneity and you’re looking at about zero minutes of downtime.

It takes a long time to “come down” from the adrenaline of a race weekend day. You’re dead tired but just lying in bed trying to quiet the mind. I’ve never been a touring artist but I can imagine this is a sliver of how they must feel on tour.

Kathy Nowak and her team just executed one of the most complex events on the sporting calendar. Huge kudos. They now have 30 days to de-rig all of it before the World Cup moves in.

Kathy Nowak Is Ready For Miami

I have so much to share from the weekend, but enough business for now.

Onto the racing. Here’s how the Miami GP results shook out:

SPRINT

DNS = Nico Hulkenberg, Arvid Lindblad

DSQ = Gabriel Bortoleto

RACE

DNF = Nico Hulkenberg, Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly, Isack Hadjar

Quali summary

Race summary

My Top Takeaways

1. Everyone on the internet is telling me to hate this season. I just don’t. Miami was the first race back after five weeks of regulation complaints, with new tweaks tested on track for the first time and the FIA all but confirming a V8 return for the next power unit cycle. This weekend undoubtedly delivered. I don’t think the regulations are perfect. But I'm loving the season anyway, and I have waning patience for the hyperbolic talk from people about how they're never watching a race again. Herd mentality is strong. The sport is still worth showing up for constructively.

2. Despite another Mercedes win, other teams used their breaks wisely to close the gap. McLaren brought seven upgrades including a completely new floor, won the sprint, and had the fastest race pace on Sunday. Ferrari brought eleven, the biggest single-weekend package on the grid. Red Bull came with seven of their own, including a weight reduction and a new rear wing concept. Not everyone’s race results showed their full potential, but I expect increasing competition at the top.

3. Franco Colapinto finished seventh and called it the most complete weekend of his F1 career. Alpine is sneakily putting together their best season in a long time. Fifth in the Constructors', scoring consistently, and producing results that deserve more conversation. Nice for Franco to have fellow countryman Lionel Messi there to support.

4. Aston Martin's fastest sprint qualifying time was slower than the slowest F2 qualifying time. I don't have much to add to that, but my thoughts are with the team.

Miami MVPs

• The halo. Gasly's car completed a full barrel roll after contact with Lawson at Turn 17. New camera angles released after the race showed exactly how the halo kept his head from the barrier. He walked away unharmed. We should never take that for granted.

• McLaren. The five-week break did McLaren the most favors with an extensive upgrade package. They won the Sprint, had the fastest car in the race, and pushed Antonelli all the way to the flag. P2 and P3 on a weekend they arguably should have won.

Stat of the Week

• Kimi Antonelli is the first F1 driver ever to consecutively win their first three races from their first three pole positions.

Radio of the Week

I was happy to see Lando unsatisfied with P2.

We’re in for another long break before Montreal on May 22-24. F1 Academy will also return for their second race weekend. In the meantime, I’ll have lots more to share about what I learned in Miami. Stay tuned!

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My Camera Roll

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