Max Verstappen led the way in FP1 of F1 Miami GP after a late dash ahead of Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz.
It wasn’t the cleanest of FP1 session in F1 Miami GP sprint weekend, where for most part Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had troubles in setting a clean lap, managed to do so in his final attempt on the soft compound to set a time of 1m28.595s lap.
He had multiple lock-up moments at the same corner on the medium tyre but managed to find good enough time on the soft compound ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri (1m28.700s) and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (1m28.711s), where both had their moments.
Piastri does not have the full updates but managed to put the car in second without the power steering issue. Mercedes had a more cleaner session with George Russell in fourth and teammate Lewis Hamilton in seventh, without major dramas.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was fifth from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, where both had a cleaner runs too when compared to others. The surprise came from the Alpine pair of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly to be ninth and 10th beating several of their immediate rivals.
They were sandwiched between the two Visa Cash App RB cars of Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo, where both set their best time on the medium tyres. The Japanese driver, though, had his moments too with lock-ups that hampered his running.
The Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg were 12th and 13th, with first of Williams of Alexander Albon in 14th and first of Stake F1 Team’s Zhou Guanyu in 15th. The Thai racer did have a sliding moment which he was able to catch.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was only 16th after setting his best time on the hard compound, after facing issues with his power steering. The team weren’t able to fix it during the session, which limited his understanding of the new upgrades they have.
Stake F1 Team’s Valtteri Bottas was 17th with Williams’ Logan Sargeant in 18th, where the American set his best time on the medium tyres after his lock-up moment. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was 19th after setting his best time on the hard tyre.
The Spaniard did not have a clean run to be only 19th as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounded the 20 drivers, after the Monegasque spun out at the start of the session. He tried to reverse and do a 360 but his clutch and car overheated in the tricky Turn 16 corner.
The PU list saw multiple F1 drivers taking up new elements for Miami GP weekend. Both the Ferrari drivers along with McLaren, Aston Martin and Stake F1 Team took on their second ICE. They even took their second TC, MGU-K and MGU-H.
Here’s full PU list: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Miami%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20New%20PU%20elements%20for%20this%20Competition.pdf
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