Mercedes reveal new PURPLE livery ahead of Miami Grand Prix

The stars of the Mercedes F1 team will be donning a much more daring look than usual this weekend as the pinnacle of motorsport returns for the Miami Grand Prix.

After a five-week enforced spring break, the race weekend in Florida will see the 2026 calendar resume following the cancellation of both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix in April.

At the tender age of 19, Kimi Antonelli will return as the youngest drivers' championship leader in F1's history, but team-mate and title rival George Russell will be hot on his heels.

The Silver Arrows duo will be hoping to make the most of their advantage against reigning champions McLaren, and Ferrari, who are currently second in the team standings.

And as fans around the world rejoice at the fact they have finally made it to race week once again, Mercedes have shared a striking new look that drivers Antonelli and Russell will be wearing as they look to extend their lead in both the drivers' and the constructors' standings at the Miami International Autodrome next time out.

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Why are Mercedes F1 drivers wearing purple at the Miami GP?

In a post shared on the official social media accounts of the Mercedes F1 team, the Brackley-based squad revealed a bold purple race suit design that their drivers will be wearing this weekend in partnership with digital financial services platform, Nu.

In a light-hearted promotional video for the Brazilian financial services company, Antonelli and Russell were summoned to give their thoughts on some new suit designs which were yet to be finalised.

In the video, neither driver approved, with Russell demanding: "Purple is what I want to see," in a rather unconvincing tone (don't give up the day job George).

The clip then showed three versions of a bright purple race suit, miles away from the black, white and turquoise threads Antonelli and Russell are more accustomed to modelling throughout a race weekend.

The accompanying caption read: "George and Kimi are setting a Nu standard for the grid. Three custom suits. One journey from Brazil to Miami."

Mercedes and Nu struck up a professional partnership in January of this year, prior to the start of the 2026 campaign.

At the time of the announcement of their multi-year global partnership, Mercedes F1 CEO and team principal Toto Wolff said: "Innovation and disruption is at the heart of everything we do and our partnership with Nu reflects those joint values."

I couldn't agree with you more Toto, Mercedes really will disrupt my weekend when I tune into the Miami GP to see Antonelli and Russell strutting around the paddock in their bright purple overalls.

What time is the Miami GP this weekend?

Below is the F1 schedule and session details for the entire race weekend in local Eastern Time, UK BST or Pacific Time if you are watching on the West Coast.

There is already a change to the original planned schedule, with F1 confirming that Free Practice 1 on Friday will now last for 90 minutes, instead of the original 60.

Check out the full schedule for the F1 2026 Miami GP sprint weekend below.

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Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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