Heroics Into Saint Devote

Somebody cue the Will Smith song! We’re in Miami this weekend for the 2025 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix. A star-studded lineup is expected to join the travelling circus that is the Formula One paddock across the weekend, not including our newest championship leader Oscar Piastri. But what are our key talking points heading into the weekend?

Special Liveries:

Now I am a massive fan of special liveries for races in Formula One, especially when they’re done well. As an example, I propose Alfa Romeo’s 111th anniversary livery from Monza in 2021. The hints of green promoting the nation’s famous ‘tricolore’. Or the Red Bull livery from turkey in the same year. The famous ‘White Red Bull’. But this weekend, most eyes in the paddock are on the Visa Cashapp Racing Bulls, who yesterday unveiled a stunning pink livery, based on the Summer edition of the energy drink.

Now this livery is stunning. From the can pictured on the rear wing, to the wheel covers looking like the top of the cans. Absolutely beautiful. But they aren’t alone in running a special livery. Ferrari too, have joined them with some more blue on the rear of their SF-25 to commemorate the year-long partnership they have had with Hewlett Packard. Now the common consensus of this livery is poor. People are unimpressed with the work of the Scuderia to design a special livery. Though, I am inclined to disagree. I really rather like the livery. It’s asymmetrical at the rear wing, with bold blue and white stripes. I really do like it.

Futhermore, Sauber have also brought a limited-time livery to Miami, but this one I cannot get behind. They’ve made the car to look like it’s had a can of green paint dropped on it a few times. I won’t give it much more daylight than that.

Verstappen-Piquet Baby:

On Thursday, it was reported that Max Verstappen will be absent from the Driver’s Press Conferences as he is away with his partner, Kelly Piquet. It then became apparent that it was due to Kelly being in labour, and expecting her second, his first child. And the next morning, Friday, it was announced that their child was born. A baby girl named Lily. A huge congratulations from us at HeroicsIntoSaintDevote.com for both the Verstappen and the Piquet family, but mainly to the parents themselves. Jenson Button was also full of congratulations for the couple, saying when he had children, it was the best thing he’d ever done. The entirety of the Formula One community were showing their support for the couple on social media, with countless messages of congratulations from the official F1 accounts, rival teams and drivers alike, as well as fans. Once again, a massive congratulations to the pair, and we wish them all the best.

Upgrades, People… Upgrades…

Red Bull are among a few teams who are introducing upgrades to this weekend, with the thought process to close the gap to the MCL39s of Norris and Piastri ahead. The brains back in Milton Keynes have come up with a new floor edge design for the troubled RB21, as well as a new floor fence design to help aid the car’s ability increase the load it generates, as well as aid the airflow stability around the car’s underside. However, only Verstappen’s RB21 will have these parts. It’s either a case of the team not having fabriacted more that one set of parts, or that they do not know the real effects of them yet. Smart move if so.

Also introducing new upgrades in Florida are Mercedes. Though it’s only a track-specific wing. The Brackley-based outfit have introduced a new rear wing design to help reduce drag for the long stretches of top-speed at the Miami cirucit. Aston Martin have also brought a circuit-specific package, with a new front-wing, rear-wing and beam-wing design, all the help reduce the drag in a straight line.

But other teams bringing real upgrades include Alpine and Sauber. The french team have introduced a new front brake duct revision, as well as new front suspension to try and claw back some points the team has missed out on previously. Sauber are still getting ready for Audi’s takeover next year, and have brought a revised front suspension cover to help aid airflow across the car.

Predictions and Hopes for the Race:

Miami is still a relatively new circuit on the calendar, having only held 3 Grand Prix since it was introduced in 2022. Though, whilst it seems to be rather disliked by the F1 community, I don’t terribly dislike it. It’s been a great race every time we’ve come here, so I can only hope it sticks to this trend.

As for my hopes for the race, I hope to see Piastri getting his elbows out to maintain his championship lead, and with a Sprint Race on the table, 33 points are up for grabs this weekend. Can Norris claw some back on Piastri? Does the newest father on the grid Max Verstappen have anything to say? I did think that this might slow Max down a little. When he ends up side-by-side with somebody, I thought he might consider the fact he now has a child at home, but after thinking about it a little more, I fear he might be even more fired up that normal. And that excites me. A Verstappen sweep of 33 points to come? I wish.

But that’s all I’ve got time for at the moment folks. I’ll be back tomorrow after the Grand Prix Qualifying. Have a good one folks.