Verstappen leads Piastri in Miami Grand Prix practice

Max Verstappen topped a busy solitary practice session at the Miami Grand Prix ahead of Sprint qualifying later today.

The temporary street track around Hard Rock Stadium gripped up dramatically in the final 10 minutes in time for the drivers’ qualifying simulation laps, with the surface temperature rising to 127 degrees F as ambient conditions warmed in the early afternoon.

Verstappen had struggled for grip throughout the session, describing the experience as “like driving on eggshells,” but strung together a lap late on a four-lap-old set of used set tires to set the benchmark at 1m28.595s.

The front-runners rotated rapidly as the clock ticked down to zero until Oscar Piastri landed himself in second place just 0.105s behind the Dutchman.

Piastri is piloting a partially upgraded McLaren this weekend after the team rushed a major update package for Miami. Teammate Lando Norris is equipped with the full suite of new parts but struggled, ending up down in 16th.

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Both drivers complained of steering problems, Piastri of a heavy wheel and Norris of power steering fault that made it harder to turn right than left. The team said the issues would be fixed before Sprint qualifying.

Carlos Sainz was the sole finishing Ferrari in third, just 0.116s off the pace, after Charles Leclerc took the sister car blue-and-red Scuderia out of the session just three laps into the hour with a clumsy spin over the curb at Turn 16.

Although the Monegasque avoided a crash with the barriers, the narrowness of the track left him unable to spin himself to face the right direction. He made several attempts at a three-point turn but burned his clutch in the process, leaving him unable to engage reverse gear and forcing and eight-minute red flag to recover the car.

A mixed session for the new-look Ferrari left Leclerc feeling blue. Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

George Russell put in a strong showing for his upgraded Mercedes in fourth at only 0.189s off the pace ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll to complete five different teams in the top five.

Sergio Perez had the pace for top spot but encountered a slow-moving Zhou Guanyu in the first sector that hampered his time, leaving him 0.273s down on his teammate in sixth and just ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Yuki Tsunoda took his technicolor RB to eighth at 0.461s off the pace without a set of soft tires, pipping Alpine teammates Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, who were closely matched just under 0.6s adrift.

Daniel Ricciardo was 11th in the second RB, also while keeping his softs in reserve, ahead of Haas duo Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg.

Alex Albon was 14th for Williams ahead of Zhou, the struggling Norris and Bottas.

Logan Sargeant couldn’t find any grip on his medium tires, holding back a set of softs for later in the weekend and finishing the session 1.3s off the pace.

Fernando Alonso was 19th after sacrificing some of his session to make major setup changes to his Aston Martin. The Spaniard also kept his softs in reserve, spending most of the hour on a single set of hards, including on a long 12-lap run to close the session.

Leclerc was classified last after three laps.