Oscar Piastri comfortably led the only practice session for the Miami Grand Prix after a late red flag due to a crash that got caught in a running run with Oliver Bareman running.
Haas of the Bearman gained power for a long right-hand turn 12, and had already threatened to infiltrate from control through tight turn 11 before fully free snapping. The rookie hit the wall on the right side of the car, immediately hit the wall on the session, triggering the red flag in under five minutes, and practiced the practice early.
The timing worked well for Piastri, who completed the only soft tire wrap and turned into a rocket at the top of the order. McLaren’s championship leader recorded the highest lap of 1m27.128, exempting Ferrari’s Charles Leclair as the second Quickict driver in 0.356 seconds.
After his eldest son was born, Max Verstappen arrived late over the weekend and completed the top three after tweaking the intermediate suspension of the session.
But the Bareman stoppage was frustrating for Piastri’s teammate Rand Norris.
Norris, who won for the first time in Miami last season, was 0.345 seconds in Piastri at the end of the first sector, but the purple second sector brought him within 0.172 seconds when he had to throw away time, bringing him to 12th.
What’s more frustrating for the team is a post-session investigation into releasing Norris in an unsafe vehicle as it appeared to have left a flashlight in the cockpit at the beginning of practice time.
Without Briton in the mix, Williams’ teammates Carlos Sein and Alex Albon left the pace for the fourth and fifth, 0.55 and 0.827S respectively, with the Frenchman finishing another 0.013S ad-lift ahead of ISACK Hadjar’s Racing Bulls entry.
George Russell was in seventh despite being caught up in the Red Flag and had not yet switched to soft compounds as he set out on a stint simulation of a long 17-lap race later in the session.
The same was true for his teammate Andrea Kimmi Antoneri. He finished 9th without running softly.
Fernando Alonso completed the top 10 with the relaxed Aston Martin ahead of Liam Lawson and out-of-position Norris.
Lewis Hamilton was on his out lap with soft tires when Red Flag finished the session early and finished 13th over Sauber’s teammates Nico Halkenberg and Gabriel Boltreto. The crashed Bearman was 16th place after Pierre Guthrie, Esteban Ocon and Jacques Doohan, but no one completed the soft wrap before the Red Flag.
Ocon was summoned to a post-session steward hearing for blocking Norris early in the session, snaking the lace line into the final hairpin before both drivers headed inwards trying to avoid each other.
Despite completing the ride on soft tires, Lance Stroll completed an order that was more than 1.1 seconds slower than his teammate Alonso.
