Why F1 Added 30 Extra Minutes to Miami Grand Prix Practice
The FIA has confirmed that Free Practice 1 at this season’s Miami Grand Prix will run for 90 minutes rather than the standard 60, with the session kicking off at noon local time and wrapping at 1:30 p. m. Sessions scheduled ahead of FP1 will move forward by 30 minutes accordingly.
On the surface it looks like a minor scheduling tweak. It isn’t. A Regulation Overhaul Lands Mid-Season Miami is the first race where a substantial package of mid-season regulatory changes takes effect.
These are changes the FIA agreed on with teams and drivers after a turbulent opening three rounds in Australia , China , and Japan . The extra practice time exists for this very reason, and the teams genuinely need it because the changes are far from just cosmetic. The 2026 technical regulations have been rewritten in several ways, and every engineer on the pitlane will want as many laps as possible to understand how their car now behaves before Sprint Qualifying locks in the grid on Saturday.
The timing is also a factor here. Miami follows a five-week gap since the Japanese Grand Prix . Factor in a Sprint weekend format that by its nature strips away two full practice sessions, and the argument for an extended FP1 is barely an argument anymore.
What the FIA Actually Changed The regulation adjustments fall into three areas: energy management, race pace, and safety at the start. On energy management, the maximum harvesting limit per lap has been cut from 8MJ to 7MJ. The intent is to ease the amount of lifting and coasting drivers were forced to do – a criticism that ran throughout the first three races of the season.