Adrian Newey's plan to leave is a blow to Red Bull on three fronts.
They're losing the best car designer F1 has ever seen - and a rival team is going to benefit from his knowledge. Perhaps most importantly, though, there are fears star driver Max Verstappen might decide to follow him through the exit door.
Of those problems, the least important by far is Newey's departure. The 65-year-old hasn't been closely involved in day-to-day car development for years. Technical director Pierre Wache has been in charge of that and, while Newey's input will no doubt be missed, they will be okay as long as they keep the Frenchman.
And whoever snaps him up cannot think that signing him will be a silver bullet which guarantees success. Newey is a brilliant boffin whose knowledge of ground-effect aerodynamics is unmatched.
Ferrari are in pole position to sign him and, by this time next year, he could be designing cars for Lewis Hamilton. But Red Bull are so far ahead already that it will take some time for even Newey to close the performance gap.
Inside the driver call which upset Red Bull and changed the course of F1 history
Plus, with new engines coming in for 2026, power unit development is far more important right now. As long as they nail their own engine project, Red Bull may not lose much sleep over Newey's exit.
Back of the Grid
It's like Ferrari went out of their way to botch their own special one-off livery for this weekend's race.
The design itself is actually quite nice and, in an era of dull, dark designs, a splash of colour is certainly welcome. But the Italians hyped this up as a 'blue' car and have only added a few strokes of it to their iconic red.
Ferrari would have been nervous about moving away from their traditional colours but switching fully would have gained far more publicity for new sponsor HP. After teasing fans, they deserve the underwhelming response to the design they got.
From the Archive
With victory in Miami last year, Verstappen broke team-mate Perez's spirit (Getty Images)Max Verstappen started last year's Miami race from ninth but comfortably beat team-mate Sergio Perez, who was on pole, breaking his spirit and ending his title challenge before it had begun.
Fast Fact
Miami is one of 11 US cities which have held an F1 race - no country has hosted the sport in more different locations.
Inside Track
Promoters are open to the idea of turning this Miami event into a night race in the future - meaning British fans would have to get up in the early hours of the morning to watch.
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