By Kimberly Wilson ·Updated May 8, 2026 < /> Getting your Trinity Audio player ready… Formula 1 stopped being just a sport a long time ago.
And if you’ve ever been to F1 in Miami, you know this better than most. Mainly because the city doesn’t really do “subtle,” and neither does race week, which is probably why Audi picked it as the place to announce they had arrived.
And “arrive” would be an understatement. Audi’s first Formula 1 season is already one of the most watched debuts in recent memory and thankfully, I was in the building to see it up close.
For context, when I say it’s now bigger than just the sport, I mean that in a significant way. Formula 1’s global fanbase hit 827 million people in 2025, with the US now the sport’s fastest-growing market. The audience also looks very different than it did even five years ago. Younger fans are pouring in, women are showing up in bigger numbers, and the sport’s cultural footprint keeps expanding. But Black fans in particular have always found their way to the sport, largely through Lewis Hamilton, who remains the only Black driver in F1 history. The cultural pipeline is widening, and Miami, more than any other race on the calendar, is where you feel that shift most.
MIAMI, FLORIDA – MAY 02: Tyriq Withers talks with Cam’ron on the grid during the Sprint ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Miami at Miami International Autodrome on May 02, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Andy Hone/LAT Images) I’ve been covering Audi for a while now, and watching them build toward this F1 entry has been one of the more patient brand stories I’ve covered. So being in Miami for their debut, in a city where that cultural shift is most visible, felt like exactly the right place to be.
Audi showed up to Formula 1 as a full factory team, with their own power unit inside the Audi R26. The last time they competed in North American racing was a Formula E race in New York back in 2021. This time around they took over the Sauber team completely, developed their own power unit, brought in Mattia Binotto to run the F1 project, and put two drivers on the grid. Whatever happens this season, nobody can say they didn’t come prepared.
Their off-track home for the weekend was Wynwood, and the choice made sense. The Audi Revolut F1 Team took over a 10,500-square-foot space at MAPS Backlot, and for four days Wynwood had a new anchor. The space had racing simulators, live screenings of every on-track session, and a 180-degree spatial film experience on Apple Vision Pro. A full mural by Miami-based artist Hoxxoh wrapped the exterior of the building and continued inside, with the design guiding visitors through the team’s world from the moment they walked in. A live poster printing station ran throughout the weekend, a Gillette barber corner handled race week grooming, and a Latin-influenced refreshment bar through Perk gave the space a distinctly Miami feel. The activation ran Thursday through Sunday, welcoming anyone in the city who wanted to see what Audi was building.
Beyond Wynwood, by the time race day arrived, Audi had already been part of Miami’s week for days. They took over nine Rosetta Bakery locations across the city starting a full week before race day, embedding themselves into people’s mornings before the paddock even opened. That’s been consistent with everything Audi has done since announcing this F1 entry, and Miami was no different.
The RS 5 also made its debut that weekend as the official car for the F1 Pirelli Hot Laps program. Audi Sport’s first high-performance plug-in hybrid, the RS 5 produces 639 horsepower through a V6 biturbo engine paired with an electric motor. And a Formula 1 weekend was the right place to introduce it. The car was prepared and maintained by Audi Sport engineers and driven by Dindo Capello and Markus Winkelhock, two racing professionals with long Audi histories behind them. Capello won the Sebring 12 Hours five times and claimed the American Le Mans Series title twice. Winkelhock is a three-time Nürburgring 24-hour winner.
MIAMI, FLORIDA – MAY 03: Gabriel Bortoleto of Brazil driving the (5) Audi F1 Team R26 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Miami at Miami International Autodrome on May 03, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) The U.S. debut of the first drop from the adidas x Audi Revolut F1 Team collection also landed during race week, and the response online was immediate. The pieces were good enough to stand on their own, which not every brand collaboration can say. You didn’t have to care about Formula 1 to want a piece of it (I know, because many of my friends who don’t follow along at all were jealous when they saw the pieces). The collection felt like a natural extension of everything Audi has been building around this F1 entry, aimed squarely at people who care about culture as much as cars.
And it wouldn’t be F1 without the celebrities (and influencers) to match the excitement of the weekend. If there’s anything I’ve learned from people watching, Miami is the place to see and be seen. All of your favorite influencers were there, from Jenee Naylor (12PM Studios), to Kordell Beckham, to the SheaMoisture girlies on SheaCation.
MIAMI, FLORIDA – MAY 03: Lupita Nyong’o talks with a team member of Audi F1 Team in the Pitlane prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Miami at Miami International Autodrome on May 03, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by John Phillips/LAT Images) Audi itself was operating on two levels that weekend — the Turn 1 Club, a three-story hospitality pavilion with unobstructed views of the track priced at nearly $10,000 for the weekend, and the Paddock Club, where, while there were no Jay and Bey spottings this time around (trust me, I looked long and hard), celebs like Chase Infiniti and Tyriq Withers stopped by and continued the Scandal spinoff allegations. Lupita Nyong’o also came through the Paddock Club on race day in near head-to-toe denim, Audi-branded bucket hat included, strawberry-red pumps as her only deviation from the theme. The room had a specific kind of cool to it that weekend, and the guest list was a big part of why.
MIAMI, FLORIDA – MAY 01: Chase Infiniti and Tyriq Withers visit the Audi F1 Team garage during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Miami at Miami International Autodrome on May 01, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by John Phillips/LAT Images) Oh, and sports actually happened too. But not without its challenges. Hülkenberg retired early due to a technical issue, but his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto, one of the most talked about rookies on the grid this season, showed enough pace and composure to give the team real reasons to be optimistic. Formula 1 has never been more popular in the United States, and Audi clearly came into this season knowing exactly how they wanted to position themselves in the F1 conversation.
One difficult race weekend doesn’t change the foundation they laid in Miami. If anything, it makes the rest of the season more interesting to watch.
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