Upgrades from McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull reshaped the pecking order in Miami, suddenly giving Mercedes genuine challengers where the field had previously looked more settled. The race outcome reflected that shift: Kimi Antonelli still took the win, but it was far from straightforward. He had to fight his way past both a Ferrari and a McLaren, while Lando Norris kept intense pressure on him right to the chequered flag.
That sequence makes the race’s defining ‘what if’ hard to ignore. Max Verstappen spun on lap one and was sent to the back while he was duelling Charles Leclerc for the lead. Given how tight the competition looked, it’s intriguing to wonder where he might have finished had that early mistake not happened.