...360s, barrel rolls and a spark-filled finish

With my first race report last year, I made a bold prediction of who would win the Drivers' Championship, and I'm sorry to anyone who listened to me - it did not pan out.

A year later, I find myself in a similar, tempting position to share my crystal ball moment, but I have a fear of the jinx, so I'm going to consider my decision as I write the race report.

So let's get into the race weekend. Ah, Miami, the race that no one asked for. There's nothing more American than copious numbers of celebrities, stealth bombers, and fake harbours.

With an unexpected five-week break, teams were given the opportunity to bring new parts and development to their cars for the race, and some teams really jumped on this chance - with Ferrari and McLaren bringing a large number of (effective) upgrades. Some teams, for reasons that no one will be able to understand, decided to bring no upgrades (I'm looking at you, Aston Martin). Mercedes didn't bring anything, but their big updates are coming next time out in Montreal.

First, we had the Sprint, with a welcome return to form for the boys in Papaya. With Lando getting Sprint pole and victory, and Oscar getting the silver position, this was a much-needed moment for the team (and the fans who lived their best lives last year and are feeling the comedown).

But I have saved most of my report for the actual race, as boy oh boy what a race it was. To recap, we had a front row of Kimi and Max, with the former struggling to nail his race starts in this new era, and the latter being as unpredictable as ever. Behind them, Lando and Charles lined up, both in cars known for their impressive starts - yes, all of this created the recipe for absolute carnage.

With the lights out, Kimi managed a decent start, but not as good as the two cars behind, and ended up locking up and going wide off track. With Max defending Lando up to turn 1, it allowed Charles to slip into the lead around the Red Bull, which led to us witnessing a rare event - driver error from Max Verstappen. The full 360 from the Dutchman was a true spectacle, and super impressive driving from the former world champion, and it was incredible that not a single car collided with him. The incident led to Max tumbling down the order however, and the first laps being led by Charles, becoming the first of many, many race leaders.

Not long after this, we had two crashes in one lap - Hadjar hitting the barrier and having an extended rage event in his cockpit afterwards - and a collision between Lawson and Gasly which led to an impressive slow motion barrel roll from Pierre (thankfully unharmed, a continued testament to the safety of these cars). This led to a safety car, where Max took a gamble on an early pit stop for the hards, but everyone else stacked up behind the safety car ready to restart.

And from here, we didn't get a moment to breathe when it came to close racing up front. Lando and Kimi, who pulled out into their own race, stayed together and exchanged the lead (we are at three different leaders now) a few times. Behind them, you had Charles, Oscar, George and Lewis all in a battle for third (though due to an early collision, Hamilton ultimately didn't have the pace to stay in the fight) and with pit stops arriving, we added Oscar to the mix of leaders of the race, and for half a lap, Max also got that clear air too.

Throughout the race, there was a lot of talk about impending rain, and we can all agree that was a real let-down. The rain could have brought even more action to an already close and exciting race, but apart from some light drizzle, it never surfaced.

Cutting to the last 10 laps or so, Max (on his super old tyres) is in 3rd, but his time there was limited - first taken by Charles, then Oscar, he tumbled down the order to eventually cross the line in 5th (due to a penalty which will become clear shortly). Up front, a circa 2-second gap was maintained leading to Kimi Antonelli winning the race, and becoming the first driver in history to convert his first three pole positions into race wins, an absolutely insane achievement which truly shows the skill of the young Italian and the bright future he has ahead of him. Lando secured a much-needed second, but third was still very much up for grabs. Piastri rapidly gained on Leclerc, and on the penultimate lap he made the move into the last podium place. Charles had the opportunity to take the place back, but due to his wearing tyres he ended up sliding into the barrier and damaging his suspension, which meant he had to limp to the finish line - being passed by Max and George through the last corners in dramatic fashion.

Charles' decision to continue in an unsafe car led to him getting a post-race penalty, dropping him to 8th. Other notable finishes include Colapinto's highest finish in 7th, Bearman yet again in his favourite 11th and for the first time this year both Aston Martins finished the race! The retiree list ended with Hadjar, Gasly, Lawson and Hulkenberg (the latter the only due to mechanical issues, not an incident).

So, back to my prediction. Should I do it? Yeah, why not. Antonelli will win the Drivers' Championship in 2026. He has shown incredible pace, and his maturity is growing every race. There's a reason he was put into that car so young; he's a superstar. George has been unlucky for a few races now, so can come back, but I am rooting for the romance of the teenage winning this year.