{"id":258814,"date":"2026-05-05T04:19:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T04:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/258814\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T04:19:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T04:19:21","slug":"miamis-grand-prix-and-amex-gave-this-f1-season-the-charge-it-needed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/258814\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami\u2019s Grand Prix and Amex Gave This F1 Season the Charge It Needed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDespite the threat of potential downpours for the weekend, the already frenetic vibe around Miami<\/a> was in overdrive due to the highly anticipated fifth edition of the Formula 1<\/a> Miami Grand Prix. The premiere racing series has always been a magnet for both gearheads and glitterati alike, with the Monaco Grand Prix long the benchmark for exclusivity and cultural cachet. Now, though, it\u2019s becoming clear that Magic City is making a move for pole position when it comes to presenting the world\u2019s finest racing with A-list revelry, and a new co-driver on this wild ride is American Express<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGiven the immense popularity of F1 with our fastest growing audience of Millennials and Gen Z, it made the partnership an obvious choice,\u201d says Beth Spaeth, executive vice president of Global Experiences at American Express. \u201cFollowing our initial success in the Americas, we knew we had to take the partnership global. Starting in 2025, we went from five races to more than 20,\u201d she tells Robb Report.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe start of Formula 1\u2019s 2026 Miami Grand Prix, with Ferrari\u2019s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull\u2019s Max Verstappen passing Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, who started in pole position.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHasan Bratic\/Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\tThe nascent 2026 Formula 1 season<\/a> has fast become marked by controversy and turmoil. First, comprehensive regulation changes necessitated a complete redesign and reengineering of the cars, which teams have done with very disparate degrees of success. Though admittedly early on, Mercedes-AMG Petronas<\/a> appears to have pieced together the hybrid puzzle with optimal results, as evidenced by its sweep of the first three races prior to Miami.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Mercedes<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tKimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old driver for Mercedes-AMG Petronas, competes in Sprint qualifying on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCharly Triballeau\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\tThe eight-time winner of Formula 1\u2019s Constructors\u2019 World Championship, Mercedes has not claimed the title since 2021, giving way to Red Bull the two subsequent years, who in turn gave up the crown to McLaren<\/a>, the overall victor in 2024 and 2025. But this Mercedes makeover looks to be a game changer.<\/p>\n

\n\tRed Bull, on the other hand, came to Miami having a sixth-place finish as its best result so far this season, while serious vibration issues have kept Aston Martin<\/a> at the bottom rung in 10th place. Naturally, those struggling are crying foul over some of the new car requirements, while those winning are, well, grinning to say the least.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Terry<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAmong the litany of celebrities on hand were Terry Crews, Colin Farrell, and Patrick Dempsey.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMark Sutton \u2013 Formula 1\/Formula 1 via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\tOf vastly more import and cause for concern, though, has been the conflict in the Middle East, which understandably forced the cancellation of the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia earlier this month. Formula 1\u2019s unexpected hiatus seemed to turbocharge anticipation and the energy level leading up to Miami, which used the framework of Formula 1 to showcase the bleeding-edge of not just motorsport<\/a>, but fashion, fine dining, entertainment, and finance.<\/p>\n

\n\tThese all found a confluence at Carbone Beach, presented by American Express. The three-night pop-up of chef Mario Carbone<\/a>\u2019s internationally renowned namesake restaurant was the most coveted ticket in town, with an all-inclusive culinary experience priced at roughly $4,000 per person.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tPrepping the culinary playground that is Carbone Beach. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Parra\/Getty Images for Amex x Carbone Beach<\/p>\n

\n\tOpened on Friday, Carbone Beach transformed a stretch of sand into a Floridian cabaret\u2014a tented enclave ubiquitous with grand chandeliers, balletic performers, and a caviar and raw bar anchored by an ice castle. And that was before entering the actual dining space, which seemed to extend to another area code. After an endless array of specialty dishes were brought out family style, and members of the celebrity set\u2014including Bethenny Frankel<\/a> and, reportedly, Hailey Bieber<\/a>\u2014had been served ample amounts of attention, Ludacris took the stage. The full set of hits spanned his 25 years in music and included cameos by Jamie Foxx<\/a> and Kevin Hart<\/a> to close out the evening. Those with reservations for Saturday had Snoop Dogg<\/a> as the headliner.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Ludacris,<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLudacris, Kevin Hart, and Jamie Foxx share the stage at Carbone Beach on Friday night.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Parra\/Getty Images for Amex x Carbone Beach<\/p>\n

\n\tSaturday\u2019s main event, of course, was the Sprint race and Qualifying sessions to determine Sunday\u2019s grid order. The 19-lap midday sprint saw McLaren dominate, with Lando Norris<\/a>\u2014last season\u2019s winner of the Drivers\u2019 World Championship\u2014and teammate Oscar Piastri finishing first and second, respectively, while Ferrari\u2019s Charles Leclerc took third. Kimi Antonelli<\/a>, the 19-year-old phenom who won the last two grand prix contests for Mercedes, was given a time penalty and landed in sixth place. Yet Antonelli has already shown one of his superpowers to be resiliency, which he demonstrated again a couple of hours later by taking pole position for Sunday after the three qualifying rounds. Red Bull, too, was given reason for optimism as Max Verstappen qualified in second, and Ferrari found representation with Leclerc in third.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"McLaren's<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMcLaren\u2019s Lando Norris, winner of Saturday\u2019s Sprint race, takes to the track during qualifying for Sunday.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChris Graythen\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\tFor all the weekend\u2019s action, Platinum and Centurion Amex members could reserve varying levels of exclusivity and access. These ranged from fan-zone activations and the Amex Racing Club\u2014complete with multiple beauty-refresh stations and massage chairs\u2014to a prime trackside viewing lounge located near the first turn. These top-tier members could also avail themselves of a package that included the Carbone Beach experience and, for Centurion card holders, VIP viewing at Hard Rock Stadium\u2019s own premier 72 Club.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe two-story Amex Racing Club at the Miami International Autodrome, complete with beauty stations and massage chairs.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAmerican Express<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was at the latter that Robb Report was invited to witness much of Sunday\u2019s 57-lap race, which began three hours early due to the threat of a rainout. The start turned chaotic in seconds when Verstappen, who along with Leclerc almost immediately passed Antonelli, proceeded to completely pirouette, recovering but quickly finding himself in ninth. Laps five and six saw Red Bulls\u2019 Isack Hadjar and Alpine\u2019s Pierre Gasly crash out, with Gasly having his car flipped due to contact with Racing Bulls\u2019 Liam Lawson, though all were unhurt.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Alpine<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAlpine driver Pierre Gasly\u2019s car flips during the race, but he is unharmed.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRudy Carezzevoli\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\tFor a change of perspective, we briefly visited turn three and the two-story trackside manifestation of the Concours Club<\/a>, the private racetrack club in nearby Opa-locka that has been a longtime host of Robb Report\u2019s Car of the Year contest<\/a>. The temporary installation has been a fixture at the Miami International Autodrome since the race\u2019s inception in 2022. As with Amex, the Concours Club has found that the Miami Grand Prix allows a unique opportunity to showcase commitment to their members and exceed their expectations.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe Amex Lounge inside Hard Rock Stadium.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAmerican Express<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYear one had this incredible energy and vibe, and a newness, and it brought out a lot of people,\u201d say Concours Club president Aaron Weiss. \u201cI understand that\u2019s very common in a lot of cities. What I\u2019m amazed and marvel and proud of is we\u2019ve seen so little drop off . . . \u00a0Miami already had a car and a racing culture, and this was just like the catalyst . . . it was like when the spark goes in a dry forest, you know, everything that was needed to fuel this was laying on the ground, and that spark just kicked it all off. So we\u2019ve seen a constant, steady ramp up. The marriage of high-end hospitality and motorsport was really the ethos of the club itself, so extending that to this stadium is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Kimi<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tKimi Antonelli of Mercedes celebrates victory on the podium, while McLaren\u2019s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri stand in second and third, respectively.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHasan Bratic\/Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso incredible was Antonelli\u2019s recapturing the lead by lap 29 and holding it through the checkered flag, forcing Norris and Piastri to settle for second and third, respectively. Red Bull had its strongest finish of the season in fifth, and Leclerc, who spun out on the last lap but recovered, finished in sixth\u2014just ahead of his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton. The win, his third straight, bolsters Antonelli\u2019s spot at the top of the leaderboard, 20 points ahead of fellow Mercedes driver George Russell. Mercedes, already 90 points ahead of Ferrari, its closest competitor in the Constructors\u2019 Championship, saw potential in Antonelli very early on and acted decisively in signing him after Lewis left. The investment seems to already be exponentially profitable.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Kimi<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAntonelli has won three of the first four races during the 2026 Formula 1 season.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFormual 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix<\/p>\n

\n\tSimilarly, American Express hopes it has found a winning partnership with this race and Formula 1 in general. \u201cWe have a significant number of card members who live in, and travel to, Miami, so it is a natural place for us to show up. There is an incredible energy around our growing sports portfolio, and we\u2019re thrilled to bring that to life at the Miami Grand Prix,\u201d says Spaeth. \u201cAmerican Express and Formula 1 are both premium brands with global reach that continues to grow,\u201d she adds. \u201cThis partnership allows us to deliver for motorsport fans around the globe, nearly all year long.\u201d That next deliverable will be the Canadian Grand Prix, May 22 through 24.<\/p>\n

\n\tClick here<\/a> for more photos of the 2026 Miami Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Racing<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRacing action during Formula 1\u2019s 2026 Miami Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChris Graythen\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\tAuthors<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Viju<\/p>\n

\n\t\tViju Mathew\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Shifting gears from his degree in physical geography, Viju Mathew has spent the last decade covering most categories of the luxury market prior to becoming Robb Report’s automotive editor. Along with\u2026<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tRead More\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite the threat of potential downpours for the weekend, the already frenetic vibe around Miami was in overdrive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[21742,31514,123,125,124,67507,115],"class_list":["post-258814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-american-express","tag-formula-1","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-motorsport","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}