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F1 Miami GP practice results: Russell fastest on Friday

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fastest in FP1 but he was a tenth slower than Russell in the faster FP2 as the track rubbered-in.

The day was incident packed, with Carlos Sainz and Valtteri Bottas hitting the wall and causing red flags, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen suffered a torrid time with reliability.

Miami Grand Prix FP1 results: Leclerc fastest from Russell

Cla Driver Chassis Engine Time Gap
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari Ferrari 1'31.098  
2 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes Mercedes 1'31.169 0.071
3 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Red Bull 1'31.277 0.179
4 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull Red Bull 1'31.301 0.203
5 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri Red Bull 1'31.498 0.400
6 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari Ferrari 1'31.528 0.430
7 Thailand Alex Albon Williams Mercedes 1'31.854 0.756
8 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 1'31.956 0.858
9 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1'32.559 1.461
10 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren Mercedes 1'32.592 1.494
11 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 1'32.615 1.517
12 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine Renault 1'32.884 1.786
13 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1'33.020 1.922
14 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin Mercedes 1'33.024 1.926
15 France Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 1'33.417 2.319
16 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Mercedes 1'33.576 2.478
17 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1'33.773 2.675
18 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Red Bull 1'34.043 2.945
19 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas Ferrari 1'34.945 3.847
20 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams Mercedes 1'35.637 4.539

What happened in Miami GP Free Practice 1?

The brand-new nature of the track was apparent right from the start, as car after car overshot Turn 1 on their first flying laps.

Leclerc was the first to spin there, along with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, while Leclerc’s teammate Sainz suffered a huge spin at Turn 4. That came after a red flag for Valtteri Bottas shunting his Alfa Romeo at Turn 7, the Finn losing control at the tricky left hander and severely damaging the rear of his car.

Leclerc ended the session 0.071s faster than the Mercedes of George Russell, while Max Verstappen was third despite ending his session early due to overheating. His teammate Sergio Perez was fourth fastest, ahead of Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Sainz, Alex Albon (Williams) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).

Miami Grand Prix FP2 results: Russell fastest from Leclerc

Cla Driver Chassis Engine Time Gap
1 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes Mercedes 1'29.938  
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari Ferrari 1'30.044 0.106
3 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull Red Bull 1'30.150 0.212
4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 1'30.179 0.241
5 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine Renault 1'30.372 0.434
6 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 1'30.535 0.597
7 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri Red Bull 1'30.547 0.609
8 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1'30.860 0.922
9 France Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 1'30.861 0.923
10 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1'30.921 0.983
11 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari Ferrari 1'30.964 1.026
12 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren Mercedes 1'31.208 1.270
13 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Red Bull 1'31.260 1.322
14 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin Mercedes 1'31.393 1.455
15 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas Ferrari 1'31.587 1.649
16 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Mercedes 1'31.631 1.693
17 Thailand Alex Albon Williams Mercedes 1'31.710 1.772
18 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams Mercedes 1'32.913 2.975
19 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Red Bull    
20 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari    

What happened in Miami GP Free Practice 2?

There was more high drama in FP2, as Sainz went fastest early on and then put his Ferrari in the wall at Turn 14, swiping the left-front corner off and causing the second F1 red flag of the day.

Soon after the restart, Verstappen suffered an issue that caused his Red Bull’s rear brake to catch fire, and he was almost rear-ended by Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin as he also struggled to steer the car back to the pits.

Verstappen failed to record a laptime, and was done for the day, as was Bottas – whose Alfa was stranded while its rear end was being rebuilt.

Another brief red flag was required later on for Nicholas Latifi, whose Williams ground to a halt after he reported something “felt weird”.

In between the chaos, Russell went fastest on the soft tyre – a tenth clear of Leclerc, with Perez – who suffered a wild spin at Turn 12 but continued – in third.

Hamilton was fourth, a tenth further back, ahead of Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Lando Norris (McLaren) and Gasly.

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