Miami Grand Prix practice, sprint, qualifying and race times, UK times, plus weather forecast

Formula 1 returns after an enforced five-week break with the Miami Grand Prix at the Miami International Autodrome, from 1-3 May.

Round four in the United States is also the second sprint event of the now 22-race season.

Teenager Kimi Antonelli is the youngest driver in F1 history to lead the drivers' championship following his victory in Japan last month.

The 19-year-old Italian, who shared the podium at Suzuka with McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, is clear of Mercedes team-mate George Russell in the title race by nine points.

Saturday's sprint starts at 17:00 BST while lights out for Sunday's 57-lap grand prix is at 21:00.

First practice this weekend will be extended to 90 minutes to give teams and drivers extra track time following the break, and to adjust to the rules changes that are being implemented from this weekend.

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Session start times and BBC coverage

Commentary of the race will be available across BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.

You can also listen by asking most smart speakers to "play BBC Radio 5 Live" or "play BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra".

Make sure to listen to every episode of the Chequered Flag podcast. For the first time this year, the post-race show for every grand prix is available to watch on BBC iPlayer and YouTube.

Times BST

Friday, 1 May

First practice: 17:30-19:00 (BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and smart speakers)

Sprint qualifying: 21:30-22:14 (BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2, BBC Sounds and smart speakers)

Saturday, 2 May

Sprint: 17:00-18:00 (BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and smart speakers)

Qualifying: 21:00-22:00 (BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and smart speakers)

Sunday, 3 May

Race: 21:00 (build-up from 20:00 on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and smart speakers)

What is the Miami weather forecast?

The early forecast says there could be some light rain on race day in Miami.

Temperatures across the three days of racing should be between 31C and 32C, with Saturday's 19-lap sprint event and main qualifying set for sunny conditions all day.

Sunday's race, which starts at 4pm local time, could feature showers and a gentle breeze.

How does the sprint race work?

The format has one slight tweak for the 2026 campaign because of Cadillac's arrival as the 11th team on the grid.

Sprint qualifying has three sessions, where now the six slowest cars are eliminated from the first two instead of five.

These sessions, known as SQ1, SQ2 and SQ3, last 12, 10 and eight minutes respectively.

This makes up the grid for the sprint race, which is 100km.

The top eight finishers score points, from eight for first place to one for eighth spot, which will get added to the overall drivers' championship standings.

Briton Russell beat the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at the opening sprint race in China in March.

Following Miami, the other sprint events take place in Canada, Silverstone, Zandvoort and Singapore.