Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
Leclerc wins the only Free Practice in Miami
After unexpected break which was five weeks long Formula 1 is back with sprint weekend in Miami. The only Free Practice this weekend was extended and it took hour and half instead of one hour due to the modification of the rules over the break. The session took place under really hot conditions, apparently it was 35 degrees Celsius. It was calm as there were no yellow flags or any other major trouble.
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Ten minutes into the session, there were all cars out, except for Aston Martin which went on the track almost 23 minutes after the start. Their delay was due to power issue. Meanwhile Lando Norris set the fastest lap 1:30:688 seconds.
Many teams brought many upgrades. The most was introduced by McLaren which was confirmed by their drivers’ times. But both Red Bull cars seem really good so far, too. Their biggest upgrade is probably their “Upside down” wing which seems to be working well as Max Verstappen set fourth fastest time after 27 minutes of the session.
George Russell spoke with his Race Engineer and complained about his car: “Check the turbo, it’s making weird noises, it’s making noise like a steam train. I don’t know exactly what it is or where it is coming from.” Later he went into the pits as the mechanics tried to fix it and he got back on track after couple of minutes.
25 minutes into the session Kimi Antonelli set new fastest lap (1.30:079) with Charles Leclerc only 0.217 seconds behind. After 18 minutes Leclerc topped the standings with his time 1:29:855. Hamiton and Norris were 0.3 seconds behind with Verstappen’s gap being 0.6 seconds on fifth place.
After an hour Arvid Lindblad was on the track the most with 15 laps completed. Antonelli complained through the radio that one of the Aston Martin’s cars blocked him. Later it happened again when Sergio Perez reported that Lance Stroll blocked him. After a couple of minutes Aston Martin reported that both their cars have issues with GPS system so they couldn’t watch the traffic.
Both Red Bull drivers were struggling with downshifting the whole session and Verstappen even went off track with 38 minutes remaining. Lindblad suffered a massive lockout and reported to the team: “That was really weird, I don’t know if I have an issue with my brake temperatures.”
Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz were also dealing with different issues. Piastri reported weird smoke in the cockpit which smelled like a break smoke according to his words. Sainz reported weird noises coming from the turbo as did Russell before.
With 13 minutes remaining the teams started to test soft tires and the times were improving. The session ended earlier for Antonelli as he had a failure on his car and went into the boxes. Later Albon went off track and Piastri touched the wall in his last lap but there was no damage on either car.
Practice results:
1st – Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
2nd – Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) – +0.297
3rd – Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – +0.448
4th – Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – +0.467
5th – Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – +0.769
6th – George Russell (Mercedes) – +0.790
7th – Lando Norris (McLaren) – +0.898
8th – Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – +1.277
9th – Isack Hadjar (Red Bull Racing) – +1.563
10th – Carlos Sainz (Williams) – +1.620
11th – Franco Colapinto (Alpine) – +1.705
12th – Alexander Albon (Williams) – +1.714
13th – Oliver Bearman (Haas F1 Team) – +1.781
14th – Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) – +1.801
15th – Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) – +2.285
16th – Esteban Ocon (Haas F1 Team) – +2.325
17th – Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – +2.338
18th – Sergio Perez (Cadillac) – +2.737
19th – Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – +3.283
20th – Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) – +3.452
21st – Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) – +3.552
22nd – Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – +3.649
