Miami GP: Piastri leads the way in red-flagged sole practice

Oscar Piastri topped the sole practice session for the Miami Grand Prix on Friday afternoon, clocking a late flyer on soft tyres to head Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen before a red flag brought proceedings to a premature halt.

The McLaren driver, currently leading the championship after a sensational start to the season, posted a 1m27.128s lap around the Miami International Autodrome.

It was enough to edge out Ferrari’s Leclerc and Red Bull’s Verstappen during a flurry of qualifying simulations in the final 10 minutes.

• Miami Grand Prix Free Practice - Results

Verstappen Starts Strong

The hour-long session began in typical sprint weekend fashion – frantic and condensed – with teams scrambling to gather data ahead of the upcoming sprint qualifying.

For Lando Norris, however, the start was anything but smooth. Last year’s race winner reported issues with loose items in his car during his opening run, delaying his soft-tyre attempt later in the session.

Verstappen, fresh from celebrating the birth of his daughter Lily, quickly settled into the groove. The reigning world champion trialled Red Bull’s new floor upgrade and initially jumped to the top of the timesheets, showing few signs of distraction after his eventful week.

George Russell looked strong early on, leading the session’s opening half with a 1m28.058s on medium tyres. He was briefly joined near the top by Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Williams’ Carlos Sainz, both of whom squeezed ahead of the McLarens during the medium-tyre phase.

Soft Tyres and a Sudden Stop

As the clock ticked down, the front-runners finally bolted on the softs. Williams duo Sainz and Alex Albon were the first to show their hand, but it didn’t take long before the big names took over. Leclerc and Verstappen traded to top spots before Piastri lit up the sector timesheets and delivered the fastest lap of the session.

The final drama came courtesy of Haas rookie Oliver Bearman, who gently backed into the barriers with just four minutes left. The red flag brought an end to the action before Norris, Lewis Hamilton (P13), and several others could complete their final runs.

Behind the top three, Sainz and Albon completed the top five, while Isack Hadjar impressed with sixth in the one-off magenta Racing Bulls livery. Russell, Yuki Tsunoda, Antonelli, and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10.

The Miami Sprint weekend is already living up to its unpredictable reputation—next up, it’s all to play for in sprint qualifying.

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