F1 drivers hit the track for Free Practice 1 of the Miami Grand Prix. The context was partly political, with FIA restrictions on jewellery, piercings and underwear.
In the end, it seems that all the drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, complied with the federation’s requests. The Mercedes F1 driver was unable to remove his ear piercing on the spot, which he said was “soldered”, but will have to take it off in Barcelona.
The teams have made changes for this Grand Prix. Mercedes F1 has a new rear wing, a new ‘beam wing’ on the rear wing, and new front wing side fins.
Red Bull did not bring anything new, while the Ferrari F1-75 will have a new rear wing. McLaren modified the profile of its front suspension and added a reinforcement to its floor to limit porpoising.
Alpine F1 has modified its rear brakes, while Williams and Alfa Romeo have new vents on the sidepods, allowing the cars to be cooled better in Florida. The Haas will also get a new rear spoiler.
The start of the session was marked by several spins, on a rather tricky track. As expected by the circuit designer, the winding sector before the long straight trapped some drivers, who brushed the wall on the exit of turn 16.
The Aston Martin F1 drivers each received a black and white flag for crossing the white line at the pit entrance. Alpine was under investigation for a new unsafe release in the pits.
The Ferrari drivers were quickly in the lead, and it was seen that the cars were very little prone to porpoising on this track. The Mercedes W13 was not even subject to it at the start of the weekend.
At mid-session, Carlos Sainz took the best time in 1’32″443, 0″112 ahead of Charles Leclerc. Max Verstappen had to return to the pits due to an overheating problem.
Lewi Hamilton, on soft tires like the Red Bull drivers, came between the Ferraris, which were fitted with medium tyres. But the session was interrupted 25 minutes from its end.
Indeed, Valtteri Bottas lost control at turn 8 and hit the wall from behind, damaging his gearbox and rear wing in particular. The session resumed with 16 minutes to go.
Verstappen was back on track and set a time of 1’31.350, but the track seemed to be improving as the temperature dropped. We saw Alex Albon set the second fastest time ahead of Russell.
Verstappen then improved to 1’31″277, but he was beaten by Leclerc in 1’31″098. George Russell came between the two men, confirming Mercedes F1’s good form, 0.071 behind Leclerc. Sergio Pérez was fourth.
Pierre Gasly improved to fifth ahead of Sainz at the very end of the session, but no one went to dislodge the top 4.
It was therefore Leclerc who completed this first session in the lead ahead of Russell, Verstappen, Pérez and Gasly. Sainz is sixth in medium rubber ahead of Albon, Hamilton, Kein Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo.
There are thus eight teams in the top 10, since only Aston Martin and Alpine F1 are missing. Lando Norris is 11th ahead of Fernando Alonso, Guanyu Zhou, Sebastian Vettel and Esteban Ocon. The gaps are then very high at the end of the classification.
| Pos. | Pilot | Car | Temps | Tours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari F1-75 | 1:31.098 | 26 |
| 02 | George Russell | Mercedes W13 | 1:31.169 | 23 |
| 03 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull RBPT RB18 | 1:31.277 | 14 |
| 04 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull RBPT RB18 | 1:31.301 | 22 |
| 05 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri RBPT AT03 | 1:31.498 | 27 |
| 06 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari F1-75 | 1:31.528 | 25 |
| 07 | Alex Albon | Williams Mercedes FW44 | 1:31.854 | 20 |
| 08 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes W13 | 1:31.956 | 23 |
| 09 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari VF-22 | 1:32.559 | 20 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren Mercedes MCL36 | 1:32.592 | 21 |
| 11 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes MCL36 | 1:32.615 | 26 |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine Renault A522 | 1:32.884 | 31 |
| 13 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo Ferrari C42 | 1:33.020 | 23 |
| 14 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin Mercedes AMR22 | 1:33.024 | 24 |
| 15 | Stephen Ocon | Alpine Renault A522 | 1:33.417 | 27 |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Mercedes AMR22 | 1:33.576 | 23 |
| 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo Ferrari C42 | 1:33.773 | 13 |
| 18 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri RBPT AT03 | 1:34.043 | 27 |
| 19 | Mick Schumacher | Haas Ferrari VF-22 | 1:34.945 | 20 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams Mercedes FW44 | 1:35.637 | 27 |
