There is some public pessimism that Red Bull and Williams will be able to make big strides forward at the Miami Grand Prix.
Both teams have been incredibly disappointing through the first three races of the 2026 Formula 1 season. Williams has dealt with a car that is heavier than most of the field while rumors have swirled that Red Bull is facing similar issues.
A season ago, Williams was fifth in the constructors standings and the best of the rest outside McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.
This year, Carlos Sainz’s two points are the only ones the team has scored so far. And he said Thursday that Williams won’t immediately be faster.
“I don’t think our position will change massively,” Sainz said at a pre-race news conference. “But hopefully it is the start of our road to recovery this year. But if you look at it relatively, if others bring big upgrades, we won’t be able to move up much relatively.”
The Miami Grand Prix is the first F1 race in over a month thanks to the Iran War. The conflict caused the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as the 2026 schedule was reduced to 22 races.
Could the unplanned break help teams catch up to Mercedes? That’s one of the biggest questions heading to Miami. Thanks to no races in the month of April, teams up and down will be bringing upgrades to Miami after weeks of being able to study the data from the first three races of the season — all won in dominant fashion by Mercedes drivers.
However, Isack Hadjar also said that Red Bull’s updates aren’t going to immediately make the team a contender.
“I don’t expect to be fighting for a podium this weekend,” Hadjar said. “We are not the only team bringing upgrades, we think we will be stronger but we do not think it will solve all our problems.”
Both Hadjar and teammate Max Verstappen each have one DNF this season and Verstappen’s sixth-place finish at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix is the best finish between the two.
The four-time champion has been outspoken with his frustration surrounding F1’s new engine rules. As electric power has become more important — and drivers are having to spend considerable time charging their engine battery — passing has become very reliant on using the engine battery where the car ahead isn’t.
As a result, F1 has changed its energy-management rules ahead of the Miami race in an effort to limit the impact of battery deployment. The changes aren’t sweeping. And it remains to be seen if they’ll win over critics like Verstappen and others in the paddock.
“I can easily accept to be in P7 or P8 where I am,” Verstappen told the BBC in March. “Because I also know that you can’t be dominating or be first or second or whatever, fighting for a podium every time. I’m very realistic in that and I’ve been there before. I’ve not only been winning in F1.
“But at the same time when you are in P7 or P8 and you are not enjoying the whole formula behind it, it doesn’t feel natural to a racing driver.
“Of course I try to adapt to it, but it’s not nice the way you have to race. It’s really anti-driving. Then at one point, yeah, it’s just not what I want to do.”