Ferrari FP3 report: Charles Leclerc P2, Carlos Sainz P7

Ferrari FP3 report: Charles Leclerc P2, Carlos Sainz P7 | 2022 F1 Miami GP. Ferrari FP3 report.

When driving a new circuit, time on track is very important and Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz, just like Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas, needed a clean Practice Three today at the Miami International Autodrome. The paddock was buzzing in Miami, and no, that was not just because of the hype around this new event – but also because it looks like the pecking order at the front has been shaken up for this weekend.

There will be no let-up for drivers in terms of the heat today – it’s 33 degrees and rising – although there was a small risk of showers for this third practice session. A lot of the teams decided to run their hard tyres today, as Ferrari team opted for the softs and Max Verstappen on the mediums in the starts of FP3. After just ten minutes, Estaban Ocon went gone off into wall here after a rear tyre lock up at Turn 14, in the exact same spot where Carlos Sainz went off yesterday. No tyre barriers meant lots of damage to that Alpine and they may struggle to repair it in time for qualifying. An odd crash there for Esteban Ocon, who lost control of his Alpine very early after trying to flick his car into the sharp left-hander.

There were 40 minutes left in final practice after the session resumed. The soft tyres were on for Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc, but while he improved on his previous time he was still two tenths down on Max Verstappen’s lap (1:31.365) from earlier. His Maranello teammate Carlos Sainz went third, although he was 0.7s off the pace.

With 15 minutes to go until the end of FP3, new sets of soft tyres were up and down the field as drivers got ready for qualifying, with George Russell and Charles Leclerc both fitting that fresh fastest rubber. The Ferrari driver improved on his first clean flying lap with those softs and he topped the session with a 1:30.981, which was three-tenths clear of title-rival Max Verstappen. However, Charles may have expected more of an advantage given his tyre.

Not much pace from Mercedes so far today as George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were both 0.9s off the pace. The Red Bull drivers were back out on softs and it was Max Verstappen who sat at the top of the timesheet with a time of 1:30.649, his teammate Sergio Perez just +0.050 behind him in second. The Dutchman got a lucky escape in the final stages of the practice session down at Turn 14 as he hit the curb but managed to hit the brakes hard enough to avoid the wall. This meant that the 2021 F1 world champion could not get one final fast run, while his teammate did and topped the table with a 1:30.304. Charles Leclerc also improved and finished just +0.194 behind the Red Bull man, with Max Verstappen sitting in third.

Mercedes had to settle for Hamilton in 15th and Russell in 17th, in a less impressive performance for the Silver Arrows than yesterday.

Practice Three: Top Ten