F1 Miami Grand Prix: Donald Trump visit could cause chaos

Donald Trump shouts in the McLaren garage at the 2024 Miami GP — Photo: © IMAGO

Miami Grand Prix

Donald Trump visit could cause Miami Grand Prix chaos

The Miami Grand Prix takes place this weekend

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 29 April 2026 17:42 Updated: 20:10

A Donald Trump visit could cause chaos for the F1 Miami Grand Prix weekend.

F1 returns this weekend after a five-week break from the sport caused by the war in the Middle East, which saw the cancellations of the Saudi Arabian and Bahrain Grands Prix.

The 2026 season resumes in Miami for the fifth edition of the race at the Miami International Autodrome, which passes some of the city's iconic landmarks including the Hard Rock Stadium.

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While in 2024 Trump visited the McLaren garage at the Miami GP and met the likes of Zak Brown and Lando Norris, the 47th President of the United States will not be at the race this weekend.

However, Trump is expected to make an appearance at the Miami Championship, a golf tournament taking place in the city on the same weekend as the Miami GP sprint weekend.

And that's because the Miami Championship is being hosted by the Trump National Doral Blue Monster course, a golf course owned by the President.

The world's best golfers - including Scottie Scheffler and Colin Morikawa - will gather for that championship on Thursday, just as all of the teams and drivers will begin arriving for the F1 race weekend.

The Miami Herald are reporting that Trump would likely visit the final day of the golf tournament, the Sunday, which of course would also clash with the main F1 race. While the two locations are around 17 miles away from each other, the congestion on the Golden Glades and Interstate 95 infuriated F1 fans and drivers alike last year - even without the presence of the 47th President and his entourage of security vehicles and expected road closures.

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F1 Miami GP weekend schedule

The event at the Miami International Autodrome is a sprint race weekend, meaning the action gets underway on Friday May 1 with FP1 and sprint race qualifying.

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.

Session	Date	Local time (ET)	UK time (BST)	Pacific time (PT)
Practice 1 (FP1)	Friday May 1	12:00-13:30	17:00-18:30	09:00-10:30
Sprint Qualifying	Friday May 1	16:30-17:14	21:30-22:14	13:30-14:14
Sprint	Saturday May 2	12:00-13:00	17:00-18:00	09:00-10:00
Qualifying	Saturday May 2	16:00-17:00	21:00-22:00	13:00-14:00
Grand Prix (57 laps)	Sunday May 3	16:00-18:00	21:00-23:00	13:00-15:00