F1 is back this weekend for racing fans all over the world to enjoy with the best race car drivers on earth set to grace Miami for the very first time.
This weekend’s Grand Prix has been a long time coming and comes at a vital time in the season with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc level on two race wins each so far.
And Lewis Hamilton will be hoping he can finish in a better position than he did at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix two weeks ago.
- Practice One start time: 7.30pm BST
- Practice Two start time: 10.30pm BST
- Stream/TV channel: Sky Sports F1
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Follow ALL the action with our live blog below…
Chequered flag – Russell tops the times
No points won on Friday this week, but what a few laps from the Brit, who continues to out-perform Hamilton, who is fourth.
Leclerc is second quickest and Perez in third.
Another terrible session for world champion Verstappen, who had a steering issue and missed a chunk of the session.
Green light – final eight minutes
Russell tops the times in his Mercedes from Leclerc’s Ferrari.
Red Flag – Latifi has parked his Williams
The Canadian has pulled over to the side of the track. The FIA have stopped the session again.
But not for long….Russell is on top
Mercedes are definitely back in the hunt. Russell is P1, Leclerc in P2 and Hamilton in P3.
Game on.
Leclerc goes quickest
So while Verstappen struggles, his title rival is look confident in Miami. His Ferrari is in P1.
Verstappen has further problems…
He has now got a steering issue in his Red Bull. He is back in the pits after a gearbox change during the break between the two sessions.
Green light again
The practice resumes in Miami now the track is clear.
Still a red flag but looking like a fight between Ferrari and Red Bull
Sainz of the times
He has had errors in Australia, Imola and now Miami. He only just has signed that new Ferrari deal.
The pressure was off but he cannot seem to buy a clean weekend at the moment,
Red Flag – Another crash for Sainz
He is in the barriers and has broken his Ferrari. The session has been stopped.
The Spaniard is out of his car, he is fine, but that is another high profile mistake, which is going to cost him.
Bottas’s car remains in the garage
The Finn has a high-speed smash in FP1. His car is back in the garage, but minus an engine. He is out of this session.
FP2 is go
Lando Norris is sporting a special basketball-inspired lid for this race.
Approaching FP2
If you missed the first session, the heat was a factor for Red Bull, with Max Verstappen struggling with the high temps.
Still lots of talk about the bling ban
ICYMI, the FIA were looking to take action against any drivers who wear jewellery under their race suits.
One driver who was particularly upset was Lewis Hamilton, who promised to defy the ruling, saying he would pullout of the Miami GP.
Well, the phone in the FIA Towers has not stopped ringing and now they have agreed for a TWO race exemption for him to remove his nose piercing.
That means, the thorny issue will once again be raised at the Monaco GP.
Yuki lash out
Tsunoda really didn’t want to be bothered.
Some action shots from practice
The drivers struggled with the track in their first practice session.
There was also one red flag when Bottas spun out.
Sainz out on trackCredit: AP Aston Martin’s StrollCredit: AP Leclerc clocks in the quickest time
Charles Leclerc put in the quickest time of the first practice session.
FP1 is Done – Leclerc is P1, Russell P2, Verstappen P3
Mixed bag in Miami, as Ferrari are quickest from Mercedes. Perez is P4, Gasly P5, Sainz P6, Albon P7, Hamilton P8.
There it is – Leclerc goes quickest
The Ferrari man has a run on the soft tyre and it proves to the quickest of the session.
Great stuff from Albon
He is in form and already looking good in his Williams.
Five minutes to go
What have Ferrari got? Currently, Sainz is in P5 and Leclerc in P8. Early days but I had assumed they would be further up the board.
Are they holding back?
Lap times dropping
Verstappen is in P1, Albon P2, Russell P3 and Hamilton now in P4. He is 0.825 seconds behind the world champion’s best lap.
Hamilton goes second
It seems as though those bouncing problems have been cured. Mercedes said they were confident of making improvements.
Imola was a bad one for Hamilton, could they be on the turn after a poor start to the season?
Green light – we are up and running again in Miami
The track is clear and the cars are back on track. 14 minutes of this session to go.
Red Flag – Bottas crashes
The Alfa Romeo man is the first man to crash off in Miami. He’s too late on the brakes and slides at speed into the barriers.
He thuds the tyre barriers with the rear of his car and comes to an abrupt stop.
He is ok. He has apologised to the team and the session is stopped while a crane removes his broken car.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
