McLaren star Oscar Piastri set the pace in the only free practice session for the 2025 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, clocking the fastest lap before the session was cut short by a red flag caused by a spin from Haas driver Oliver Bearman.
The single practice session of this sprint-format weekend got off to a rocky start for 2024 Miami GP winner Lando Norris. The McLaren driver reported issues on his installation lap, noting that some components inside his cockpit had been left unsecured. Meanwhile, reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who arrived in Florida after celebrating the birth of his first child, quickly made headlines by topping the early timing screens while testing Red Bull’s upgraded floor package.
Mercedes’ George Russell emerged as the early pacesetter, laying down a benchmark of 1m28.488s on medium tyres. He was followed closely by Max Verstappen and the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, all using the same compound. Russell then improved his lap time to 1m28.058s, keeping him ahead of team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Williams’ Carlos Sainz, who jumped both McLarens on the leaderboard.
As the session wore on, Russell’s time remained unbeaten for much of the 60 minutes, with most drivers focusing on setup work using Pirelli’s medium compound tyres. Teams were gathering vital data ahead of Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, taking place in the scorching Miami heat.
In the final 10 minutes, teams switched to soft tyres for simulated qualifying runs. Williams drivers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were first to make the change, briefly climbing the standings before being displaced by frontrunners. Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc temporarily held the top spot until Oscar Piastri unleashed a blistering lap, going purple in all three sectors to post a session-best 1m27.128s.
Any final attempts at improvement were halted when Oliver Bearman lost control of his Haas and gently slid into the barriers, triggering a red flag with just four minutes remaining. The stoppage effectively brought the session to an early close, leaving several top drivers—including Norris and Lewis Hamilton—without the chance to complete competitive laps on soft tyres.
The final order saw Leclerc and Verstappen hold second and third, followed by Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon in fourth and fifth. Isack Hadjar impressed with sixth in the magenta-liveried Racing Bulls car, ahead of Russell and Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull. Antonelli and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso completed the top 10.
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