Leclerc is fastest 0.071 seconds ahead of Russell!

The Miami circuit, which was to host the first Miami Grand Prix in history, was built around the Hard Rock Stadium and did not look like an easy circuit for drivers.

This was evident from the beginning of the session. On the track where road grip is low, the drivers started to have difficulty immediately after getting on the track.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda each spun once, but continued on without hitting anything. Carlos Sainz, on the other hand, took a spin at a higher speed and badly damaged his tyres, but his car was in good condition.

In addition, names such as Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Mick Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez went off the track during the session.

Max Verstappen first touched the wall, then stayed in the garage for a while due to the heating problem.

Valtteri Bottas raised the first and only red flag of the session. The Alfa Romeo driver lost control of his vehicle, spun and hit the rear of the barriers. The session was then stopped.

On the timeline, however, the ratings improved steadily, as might be expected. Initially, the degrees were at 1:33.

Charles Leclerc was the first to go below 1:33 with a lap of 1:32,949 and topped the timetable. Later, Carlos Sainz took this rating to 1:32,679.

The duel between the two continued even later. Leclerc did 1:32.555, while Sainz did 1:34.443.

This lap remained at the top of the timetable until the final 10 minutes. Verstappen, who took the track with soft tires in the last 10 minutes, took the lead with 1:31.350, then 1:31,277.

In the final section, as the ratings accelerated, Leclerc set the fastest time to 1:31,098 and was the leader of the session.

Ferrari thus started the weekend stronger, but all eyes were on Mercedes. George Russell made a strong impression, finishing his first practice session in second place by 0.071 seconds in Miami, where Mercedes brought the biggest update package this year.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Perez completed the top four in the first session where they didn’t look very comfortable. Verstappen was just 0.179 seconds slower than Leclerc, while Perez was also 0.024 seconds behind Verstappen.

At AlphaTauri, Pierre Gasly was in the top five in the first session, as he does on most Fridays. The French driver was 0.4 seconds behind Leclerc, followed by Sainz 0.030 seconds behind. While trying to make one last try with the soft tyre, the Spaniard spun and could not make a clean lap due to the damage he caused to these tyres. For this reason, he was left behind with the lap he made with the middle tire.

Williams driver Alex Albon surprisingly had the seventh fastest time in the session, trailing 0.56 seconds.

Lewis Hamilton finished eighth, 0.7 seconds behind teammate Russell, while the other names were trailed by about 1.5 minutes.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13

Photo: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Kevin Magnussen was the leader of this close group, while McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top ten.

Alpine drivers could not enter the top ten in the session where Lando Norris was 11th. Fernando Alonso was 12th after 1.7 seconds behind, while Esteban Ocon was 2.3 seconds behind. Among these two drivers were rookies Zhou Guanyu and Sebastian Vettel.

Canadian Lance Stroll finished the session 16th, 0.5 seconds behind his teammate, while Yuki Tsunoda finished 17th and 18th after the Bottas crash.

Mick Schumacher and Nicholas Latifi, who could not make a clean lap in the last two places.

Except for Sainz and Bottas (middle), all drivers recorded their fastest laps on the soft tyre.

The second training session will be held at 00:30 TSi.

Session result:

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