Miami GP F1 trial poses threat to Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari season

Lewis Hamilton looking sad edited on a backdrop of a neon blue Miami palm tree — Photo: © IMAGO

Miami Grand Prix

Miami GP F1 trial poses threat to Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari season

The Miami GP will see a new trial

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 29 April 2026 09:12 Updated: 09:34

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An FIA trial at the upcoming Miami Grand Prix might just threaten to derail Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's F1 season.

While Ferrari have clearly been the second-fastest team so far in 2026 behind Mercedes, their rapid race starts have enabled them to get into the lead of races, and has looked like their best chance of claiming a grand prix win.

The team are understood to have told the FIA last year that race starts could be a problem amid the new power unit regulations, and developed their own power unit to be excellent at race starts.

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Many of the other power unit manufacturers, however, have struggled with their starts, including Mercedes, despite being the dominant outfit on the grid.

Now, a new FIA trial at the Miami GP could be set to take some of Charles Leclerc and Hamilton's advantage at the start of races away from them in the future.

During FP1 in Miami, a new start procedure will be tested which provides MGU-K assistance to cars who are about to stall, as a safety measure to ensure that faster cars do not need to take as much avoiding action if a car struggles ahead of them.

The measure has not been completely signed off for grands prix yet, and it is not designed to give a sporting advantage to bad starters.

However for Ferrari, who have been nailing their starts at all races so far in 2026, some of the competitive advantage will be lost over their rivals, if the measures are implemented following the FP1 trial.

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What have the FIA said about proposed changes?

FIA single-seater chief Nikolas Tombazis explained how the new proposed measures will not provide a sporting advantage to power unit manufacturers who are struggling with their starts.

"Basically, there's a detection of how well the car is accelerating after small amount of time after the start," he said.

"And if that is below a certain threshold, then it kicks in. Just to give you reference points, I think it would have intervened this year on two or three occasions total. I don't think it would have intervened, for example, with Verstappen’s bad start [in China].

"It would have certainly intervened in Liam Lawson start in Australia, no doubt about that. I think the Verstappen start in China would not have been in that threshold of intervention."

Lawson's start has been one of the most talked about instances so far off the line in 2026, with the New Zealander admitting that he began 'bracing' for a huge impact from behind.

Many drivers behind the 24-year-old were forced to take avoiding action in order to avoid a collision.