Everything that happened in first Miami F1 practice

Charles Leclerc led George Russell and Max Verstappen in the first Formula 1 practice session at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix.

Key moments

– Leclerc fastest, Verstappen third
– Russell second in upgraded Mercedes
– Bottas crash causes red flag
– Sainz spins and picks up puncture

Leclerc spun in his early exploratory laps of the new Miami International Autodrome but he and his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz led the opening stages on the medium tyres, while the other frontrunners used soft tyres.

When Leclerc bolted on the soft tyres, the championship leader delivered a late flier of a 1m31.098s to top the session and edge the Mercedes of George Russell by just 0.071s.

Mercedes has brought a raft of upgrades to this weekend’s Miami GP, and it appeared the porpoising issues that have plagued its 2022 season were muted – although this was a trend seen across most teams.

The Red Bulls of Verstappen and Sergio Perez completed the top four ahead of fellow Honda-powered driver Pierre Gasly.

Valtteri Bottas proved to be the first victim of the new Miami circuit as he lost control of his Alfa Romeo through the Turn 6-8 hairpin and went backwards into the barriers at Turn 7.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

Valtteri Bottas loses the back-end of the car and hits the wall 💥

He's out of the car, and on his way back to the paddock#MiamiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/5Fa7hrs8J6

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 6, 2022

Bottas’s stricken car caused a red flag that stopped the session for 10 minutes before it restarted with 15 minutes on the clock.

Shortly after the session resumed Sainz spun his Ferrari at the high-speed Turn 4 left-hander and picked up a puncture while on his first proper soft tyre run.

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Sainz recovered to set the sixth fastest time on the medium tyres in the closing stages.

The Williams of Alex Albon was a surprise seventh place ahead of the second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, who has been at the centre of the latest jewellery clampdown controversy this weekend.

The top 10 was rounded out by the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo.

Esteban Ocon and Alpine will see the stewards after the session as he almost collided with Russell at the start of the session in the pitlane due to what looked like an unsafe release.

Practice 1 Results