Leclerc puts Ferrari atop Miami GP practice

Charles Leclerc beat Max Verstappen to the fastest practice time at the Miami Grand Prix in a scrappy conclusion to the 90-minute session.

Drivers waited until the final 15 minutes of the extended practice session – elongated due to the April break and the recent rule changes – to bolt on the soft tire and attempt a qualifying simulation time. None of the front-running drivers, however, executed cleanly with their first attempts, with the Turn 17 hairpin catching most of them out.

Leclerc, who had been on top of the order after the first 75 minutes of running on the hard compound, made the smallest mistake, running slightly wide at the track’s last big braking zone to set the benchmark at 1m29.310s. The time was 2.2s slower than the best practice lap at this circuit in 2025.

Verstappen, despite complaining of shift problems early in the session, was second and 0.297s off the pace in an encouraging result for Red Bull Racing and its significant upgrade package, including its own take on a Ferrari-style rotating rear wing.

Oscar Piastri completed the top three for McLaren, but the Australian needed a second lap on his soft tires to get the best from his new package. He was 0.448s adrift.

Lewis Hamilton was only 0.019s further back, the Briton having run very deep at the final hairpin to spoil his fastest time.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli didn’t get a soft-tire run, with Mercedes reporting a power unit problem that couldn’t be solved in time for him to set a fast time, leaving him garaged at the end of the session. He nonetheless ended the session ahead of teammate George Russell, who was the first of the frontrunners on softs but whose lap looked uncompetitive even before he ran deep at Turn 17, leaving him 0.79s off the pace. Russell, though, didn’t enjoy an untroubled session either, with the Briton reporting unusual sounds from his turbocharger throughout practice.

Lando Norris completed the top seven, but the 2025 Miami Sprint winner had been on track to match Leclerc until stumbling across a slow-moving Alex Albon in the braking zone at Turn 17, forcing him to take to the run-off zone and abandon the lap, leaving him without a soft-tire time.

Pierre Gasly was best among the midfielders for Alpine, 1.277s off the pace and ahead of Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull Racing entry, the latter having complained of transmission problems early in the session on his way to 1.563s off the pace.

Carlos Sainz completed the top 10 for Williams at 1.62s adrift after having complained of similar turbo issues to Russell.

Franco Colapinto was 11th ahead of Albon, Oliver Bearman and Audi teammates Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg.

Esteban Ocon was 17th ahead of Liam Lawson and Sergio Perez.

Fernando Alonso – along with Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll – was almost half an hour late joining the session owing to a garage power problem. The Spaniard ended practice 19th ahead of Valtteri Bottas, rookie Arvid Lindblad and Stroll.

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