Miami Grand Prix practice: Ferrari's Leclerc edges Red Bull's Verstappen as season resumes
The session resumed after a five-week break with teams testing upgrades and adapting to new engine-management rules, while Mercedes struggled with technical difficulties.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc emerged as the fastest in the only practice session for the Miami Grand Prix, beating Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 0.164 seconds. The session marked the resumption of the season following a five-week break, with teams eager to evaluate significant car upgrades and adapt to new engine-management regulations.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri finished third fastest, edging out Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton on the timesheet. In contrast, Mercedes, which has won the first three races of the season, faced a troubled session. George Russell encountered a turbo problem early on, which was resolved via a garage reset, allowing him to record only the sixth-fastest time.
Team-mate Kimi Antonelli, the current championship leader, did not get a chance to run on the soft tyres at the end of the session because Mercedes were investigating an engine problem on his car. The status of the car regarding the investigation remains under review, with no confirmation of whether it was repaired or retired.
The practice session was extended by 30 minutes to allow teams time to understand the implications of the complicated changes made to the engine-management rules. The vast majority of teams introduced significant upgrades during this period, though the session was otherwise uneventful apart from drivers running wide at the end of long straights as they explored their braking points.
World champion Lando Norris was seventh fastest in the other McLaren, ahead of Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Red Bull's Isack Hadjar and Williams' Carlos Sainz. McLaren's Oscar Piastri also had a small brush with the wall right at the end of the session, adding a minor incident to an otherwise routine gathering of data.
Miami is confirmed as a sprint weekend, meaning there is a qualifying session scheduled for 16:30 local time (21:30 BST) to determine the grid for the shorter sprint race. As the session concludes, attention now shifts to how these preliminary observations regarding the new rules will translate into performance over the coming weekend.
