The F1 Miami GP Free Practice is here and we have the lowdown on what happened through both sessions.
FP1: Russell Dominates for Mercedes, Outpacing Hamilton in Miami
Mercedes showed a strong comeback in the opening practice session in Miami after a challenging weekend in Baku. George Russell outperformed his teammate Lewis Hamilton to secure the top spot.
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Max Verstappen, the reigning world champion, led most of the session, but Mercedes stole the show with a late surge by George Russell. He finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, securing a dominant one-two for the team.
The drivers had to contend with scorching Miami heat, with track temperatures soaring as high as 51°C. Verstappen initially set the pace, with Leclerc as his closest challenger, albeit at quite a distance.
However, the Mercedes duo saved their best for last, completing their runs on soft tires in the final moments of the session. Russell snatched the fastest time, just 0.212 seconds ahead of the seven-time world champion, Hamilton. Due to a steering rack change, Russell only managed to complete 19 laps, missing out on the first part of the session.
Leclerc, who secured double pole position in Azerbaijan a few days ago, had a promising session, finishing in third place behind the Mercedes duo. Verstappen settled for the fourth fastest time, having gone out on soft tires much earlier than his rivals, as the track improved significantly later on.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz claimed fifth place, followed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, and the Aston Martin pair of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
The session was interrupted by a red flag when Nico Hulkenberg crashed into the barrier at Turn 3. Despite the incident, Hulkenberg’s early soft tire run was quick enough to secure ninth place, ahead of Esteban Ocon from Alpine.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez finished in 11th place, following a similar program to his teammate, taking to the newly resurfaced Miami International Autodrome earlier than others.
McLaren introduced an upgraded package in Baku, delivering a significant improvement in qualifying performance. However, the team is still striving to enhance their race pace. In the first Miami session, Oscar Piastri was the fastest McLaren driver, rebounding from health issues the previous week. He secured 12th place, while Lando Norris finished 16th.
It was another challenging session for Alfa Romeo, with Valtteri Bottas claiming 14th place and Zhou Guanyu, his Chinese teammate, finishing in 17th.
Yuki Tsunoda from AlphaTauri, who achieved a top-ten finish in Baku, settled for the 18th fastest lap time. Florida native Logan Sargeant struggled, ending up in 19th place for Williams, while Nyck de Vries found himself at the bottom of the field.
FP2: Verstappen Leads Ferrari Pair in Second Miami Practice
After the impressive showing by the Mercedes drivers in the first practice, reigning champ Max Verstappen made a comeback in the afternoon session, topping Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc with a new unofficial track record.
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Although Verstappen was overtaken by the Mercedes drivers in the final moments of the first practice, he had shown earlier that he was the fastest, a fact he confirmed in the second 60-minute session at the revamped Miami International Autodrome.
The champ set an unofficial lap record in Miami with a time of 1m27.930s and showcased exceptional performance on long runs with a heavy fuel load.
Ferrari’s duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc secured second and third places respectively, but they couldn’t come close to challenging the leader, finishing almost four tenths of a second behind. Leclerc’s session ended early when he lost control of his Ferrari SF-23, causing the only red flag of FP2 as he crashed into the barriers at Turn 7.
Following his victory in the F1 Baku Sprint last weekend, Sergio Perez had a subdued start to the weekend but managed to improve in the second practice, claiming fourth place behind the Ferraris.
Lando Norris briefly led the session with his upgraded McLaren when they switched to soft tires, thanks to his impressive performance in the tricky first sector. In the end, the British driver settled for sixth place, ahead of Fernando Alonso from Aston Martin and Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes.
Mercedes showed great speed in the opening session, finishing with a one-two, but struggled in the second session. Hamilton’s teammate George Russell took 15th place after going wide at Turn 11 during his high-fuel run.
Alpine couldn’t demonstrate the potential of their new package in Baku due to technical problems, but they seemed to be competitive today, with Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly finishing in 9th and 11th places respectively.
Yuki Tsunoda from AlphaTauri secured the 18th position ahead of his teammate De Vries. Williams driver Alexander Albon had a strong performance, ending up in 10th place, while his teammate Logan Sargeant finished at the bottom of the standings, approximately two seconds off the pace.
Thats it for F1 Miami GP Free Practice. Tomorrow, we get another Free Practice session followed by Qualifying. Do you think anyone can go faster than the Red Bull?
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F1 Miami GP Free Practice