Formula 1 title leader Charles Leclerc opened the Miami Grand Prix weekend on top after setting the fastest time during first practice.
Drivers got their first taste of the 19-turn Miami International Autodrome, which winds its way around the Hard Rock Stadium, during Friday afternoon’s opening one-hour session.
The session took place in typically hot and humid conditions in Miami, with air temperature peaking at 34c, and track temperature exceeding 50c.
Leclerc recovered from an early spin at Turn 1 to set the fastest time of 1:31.098s.
George Russell emerged as Verstappen’s nearest challenger as Mercedes showed hints of improvements after bringing a smattering of updates.
The W13 has been equipped with an updated front wing endplate and rear wing mainplane for drag purposes and Russell finished just 0.071s behind Leclerc.
Team-mate Lewis Hamilton was down in eighth place after encountering traffic on his final push lap.
World Champion Max Verstappen, who lightly brushed the Turn 16 exit wall, wound up third overall, within two-tenths of Leclerc, and marginally in front of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.
Valtteri Bottas was the only driver to hit the barriers at the new circuit as he spun through Turn 7 and hit the wall midway through the session.
Bottas lost the car through the left-hander, which gradually tightens around the ‘fake marina’, and suffered a rear-first impact with the barriers, causing damage to the rear of the Alfa Romeo C42.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz had the wildest moment of the session after he spun through Turn 4.
Sainz rotated at high speed but while he avoided hitting the wall the force of the spin caused damage to his left-front tyre and he crawled back to the pits for a spare.
He classified sixth, the only driver in the front half of the field to clock his best time on Mediums as opposed to Softs, behind AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, while Alexander Albon was an eye-catching seventh for Williams.
Kevin Magnussen provided encouragement for Haas – chasing its first point on home soil since 2016 – as he finished ninth, with Daniel Ricciardo edging McLaren team-mate Lando Norris for the final spot inside the top 10.
Second practice for the Miami Grand Prix is scheduled to begin at 17:30 local time
Position
Driver
Team
Time Gap
Laps
1
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
1:31.098
26
2
George Russell
Mercedes
1:31.169 0.071
23
3
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1:31.277 0.179
14
4
Sergio Perez
Red Bull
1:31.301 0.203
22
5
Pierre Gasly
AlphaTauri
1:31.498 0.400
27
6
Carlos Sainz Jr
Ferrari
1:31.528 0.430
25
7
Alex Albon
Williams
1:31.854 0.756
20
8
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1:31.956 0.858
23
9
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
1:32.559 1.461
20
10
Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren
1:32.592 1.494
21
11
Lando Norris
McLaren
1:32.615 1.517
26
12
Fernando Alonso
Alpine
1:32.884 1.786
31
13
Guanyu Zhou
Alfa Romeo
1:33.020 1.922
23
14
Sebastian Vettel
Aston Martin
1:33.024 1.926
24
15
Esteban Ocon
Alpine
1:33.417 2.319
27
16
Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
1:33.576 2.478
23
17
Valtteri Bottas
Alfa Romeo
1:33.773 2.675
13
18
Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri
1:34.043 2.945
27
19
Mick Schumacher
Haas
1:34.945 3.847
20
20
Nicholas Latifi
Williams
1:35.637 4.539
27
