F1 shifts Miami start time amid severe weather warnings

• Miami F1 has been rescheduled for a Monday 3am start (AEST)

Organisers of the Miami Grand Prix have been forced to bring forward the race start time amid fears for driver safety as extreme weather threatens the state of Florida.

Hours after Kimi Antonelli secured pole position for the Grand Prix, a statement was released confirming the changes.

"Having received a forecast from the Official Weather Service predicting that the probability of precipitation will be greater than 40% at some time during the race at this competition, a Rain Hazard is declared," said an FIA message.

"Following discussions between FIA, FOM and the Miami promoter, the decision has been taken to move the start of Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix to 13:00 local time in Miami due to the weather forecast that is expected to bring heavier rainstorms later in the afternoon close to the original planned race start time," a statement from FIA, FOM and Miami Grand Prix read.

“This decision has been taken to ensure the least amount of disruption to the race, and to ensure the maximum possible window to complete the Grand Prix in the best conditions and to prioritise the safety of drivers, fans, teams and staff."

Asked about the system that is homing in on Florida, Oscar Piastri said the team might “want to build some oars.”

Piastri's McLaren team made an emphatic statement in the sprint race with Lando Norris crossing the line first from Piastri but the pendulum swung very much the other way in qualifying for the main event.

In fact Piastri was just 0.2 seconds from a total disaster in Q1.

The pair was lucky to make it into the second and third sessions and were eventually forced to settle for sixth (Norris) and seventh (Piastri) on the grid.

The Australian grappled with power issues on the Miami track.

“It was all a little bit random. Not the smoothest of sessions, especially the last lap of Q3,” Piastri said.

“I did what I thought was a good job through turn four, five and six, and then something weird happened and that’s why my middle sector was so good.

“I lost a whole bunch of time with the super clip when I didn’t expect it and then had more energy in the back straight.”

Kimi Antonelli will start on pole for the third consecutive race this season with Max Verstappen finding some form to join him on the front row.