What went on in F1’s Saturday Miami GP practice

Sergio Perez was fastest in the final Formula 1 practice session before qualifying at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix as his team-mate Max Verstappen narrowly avoided a late shunt.

Key moments:

> Perez three tenths clear
> Verstappen third, has late scare
> Leclerc and Sainz second and seventh
> FP2 pacesetter Russell only 17th
> Ocon crashes

Verstappen was on course to displace his Red Bull team-mate Perez with a late flying lap before he hit the kerb through the Turn 14/15 chicane and had to slam on the brakes to narrowly avoid hitting the barriers.

Whoa, that was a close one! 😮

Max manages to stay out of the barriers at the chicane#MiamiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/LuCv5TPR11

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 7, 2022

The reigning F1 champion was able to recover back to the track but had to settle for third place behind championship leader and title rival Charles Leclerc.

Perez topped the session on a 1m30.304s, which is a few tenths shy of George Russell’s Friday benchmark at the new Miami International Autodrome.

F1 champions Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) were fourth and fifth, ahead of the Haas of Mick Schumacher, who is still awaiting his first F1 point.

Carlos Sainz, who lost Friday running following his shunt, was seventh quickest ahead of Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Alexander Albon (Williams) and McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Friday pacesetter Russell was only 17th for Mercedes, while his team-mate Lewis Hamilton was 15th, pouring some cold water on the belief that the newly-upgraded Mercedes could return to the team back to the fight at the front.

Esteban Ocon lost control of his Alpine on the entry to the Turn 14/15 chicane around 15 minutes into the session, and found himself in the barriers, creating a race against time for his team to get his car ready in time for qualifying.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

Esteban Ocon has gone into the barriers at Turn 14 #MiamiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/rm27BHguAq

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 7, 2022

Ocon had to visit the medical centre as the incident reached the maximum G-force level which mandates a medical centre trip, but he was quickly given the all-clear.

The session was red-flagged before resuming with just over half the time remaining.

Practice 3 Results