The hottest ticket for the weekend was the American Express Presents CARBONE BEACH event, a three-night experience in South Beach that transported the famed New York restaurant into a Supper Club on the sand. Each night featured a menu of Carbone favorites — curated by chef Mario Carbone — followed by a surprise musical performance.

The Carbone x Amex event kicked off Friday night with a set from Jelly Roll, who rolled into Miami fresh off his headlining Stagecoach performance in Indio. The singer told Rolling Stone that he was excited to play a more intimate venue.

“You always aim to create that connection with people in the room whether you’re playing to 800 or 80,000,” he said, “but you get to speak to a lot more of the people attending an event and there’s something about being able to really have that smaller, closer setting. It brings it back as a performer to those earlier venues you played when you were staring out, and it changes how you approach a set,” he explained. “The way you approach the songs and production is totally different too.”

To that end, Jelly Roll charmed the crowd with hits like “Liar,” “Lonely Road” (sans Machine Gun Kelly) and “Save Me,” while also performing a hip-hop cover medley that included “Lose Yourself” and “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem.”

“It’s the first time we’ve been able to come to this event and anytime you can combine something like F1 and incredible food and a place like Miami, you do it,” he said. As for his favorite Carbone dish: “Carbone Vodka Rigatoni. Hands down.”

Other performers at CARBONE BEACH included T-Pain, Busta Rhymes and Lauryn Hill, who closed out the weekend with a late-night set on Sunday.

Over in Brickell, stars like Timbaland, Chamillionaire and SOFI TUKKER took over Delilah Miami for the restaurant’s “Delilah at Miami Race Week” event, presented by Chase Sapphire Reserve. Timbaland kicked off the festivities with a “Throwback Thursday” set earlier in the week, playing his 2000s hits from Missy Elliott, Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake, among others, as dancers dressed in Delilah-branded velour sweatsuits worked their way through the crowd. Fat Joe followed it up with a performance on Friday, before SOFI TUKKER lit up the venue’s DJ booth for a Saturday night party.

SOFI TUKKER pulled double duty over the weekend, also playing the Hard Rock Beach Club at the track on race day. Located outside of turns 11-13, the outdoor day club offered guests multiple ways to tune into the race, with an elevated view of the track from the Beach Club cabanas and a live F1 feed playing on giant screens that attendees could watch from their VIP booths or the pool below.

The Hard Rock Beach Club hosted the Official Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix Pool Party, which was a decidedly international affair, with performances from Kygo, Kaskade and Pitbull and guests that included global athletes, artists and even Miss Universe 2023, Sheynnis Palacios from Nicaragua. The Hard Rock brand is a big presence at the Miami F1 race and in the Greater Miami Metropolitan area: the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood (a.k.a. The Guitar Hotel) is located just a few miles away.

Hard Rock Stadium also hosted activations from brands like TAG Heuer and Heineken. TAG brought out athletes like Miami Dolphins Cornerback Jalen Ramsey, New York Jets Quarterback Tyrod Taylor and golfer Paris Hilinski to celebrate the TAG Heuer Formula 1 Solargraph watch, which features a racing-inspired black steel case with red accents. The Formula 1 timepiece is the first of seven forthcoming limited releases tied to the 2025 F1 Grand Prix series.

TAG Heuer’s mark is also seen on the iconic Pitlane Clock, a custom-engineered four-foot diameter clock inspired by the original 1986 TAG Heuer Formula 1 Series 1 watch.

Heineken, meantime, brought out stars like Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan to its Paddock Club and Paddock Garden, while guests sipped on Heineken Original, Heineken Silver and the non-alcoholic Heineken 0.0%, at the track. The beer brand also sponsored a Bleau Bar Takeover at the Fontainebleau hotel on Saturday night, with the lobby bar bathed in a Heineken-green glow as partygoers grabbed a drink post-qualifying.

Other celebs spotted over race weekend included Parris Goebel and Chanel Iman, guests of luxury Scotch whiskey (and official Scuderia Ferrari Team Partner) Chivas Regal; reality star Julia Lemigova and music duo DRAMA at The Shelborne By Proper’s opening celebration on Thursday night; 50 Cent, Diplo, Nelly and Afrojack, who all performed at Miami ultraclub E11EVEN’s Race Week parties; and rapper Roddy Ricch, who appears on the soundtrack to the upcoming Brad Pitt film, F1.

Due out June 27 (in conjunction with the movie release), F1 THE ALBUM features a new track from Ricch, titled “Underdog.” The rapper, who got to check out a special F1 soundtrack activation at the stadium, says he was thrilled to be asked to contribute a song to the album as “a big car fan,” though he admits he’s “still learning” about F1.

Still, Ricch says he was excited to jump on board the soundtrack after seeing some of the other artists involved, shouting out Don Toliver, Burna Boy and Doja Cat as three of his favorites.

And then there’s that other star power involved in the film: “I grew up watching Brad Pitt,” the rapper tells Rolling Stone, “so it’s an honor to be part of this.”

Ricch also credits some new inspiration that pushed him to record a song for the soundtrack. “My daughter is nine months [old] and she’s my biggest motivation and my saving grace right now,” he says. “So I’m doing it for her [and] I’m doing it for the people where I grew up. It’s an honor and a blessing to be a part of this, so I think when you get the opportunity, you don’t waste it, you know what I mean? You got to make something of it, because you know everybody don’t.”

Aside from the star power in Miami, this year’s race also saw the start of preparations for a new-looking grid for the 2026 season. Janelle Monae DJ-ed a party at Queen Miami Beach to celebrate the official launch of the Cadillac Formula 1 Team (marking the first all-new team to join the Formula 1 grid in more than a decade). And Audi brought guests out to the Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber Paddock, as the automaker takes over the team to rebrand as “Audi F1” next year.

Though details are still coming together, Audi F1 has confirmed that it will retain Sauber drivers Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg for another season, while announcing former Red Bull Racing sporting director Jonathan Wheatley as Team Principal.

The red and black car — accented by the familiar Audi four rings emblem — will replace the neon green Kick Sauber livery, with the Audi F1 factory team will be headquartered in Neuburg, Germany (power unit development), and Hinwil, Switzerland (chassis development).

Audi has long been a presence in the motorsports space, having fielded cars for the World Endurance Championships, the Le Mans Series and Formula E. The automaker feels it’s positioned to be competitive in F1, as the series moves towards a greater emphasis on electrification and sustainability for 2026 — areas where Audi has already developed and implemented technology in their cars.