Verstappen quickest in FP1, Leclerc incident causes red flag in Miami

Max Verstappen was the quickest driver in the only free practice session of the weekend. The Dutchman's best lap time was a 1:28.595. Oscar Piastri finished second in FP1 behind the Red Bull driver, while Carlos Sainz rounded off the top three in the state of Florida.

The final standings were decided by the teams’ final runs on the soft tyres. Max Verstappen finished in first place, but the Dutchman did not have an easy session, as he locked up multiple times into the final hairpin.

On the soft tyres, Oscar Piastri finished second behind Verstappen with their new set of upgrades brought to their car, while Carlos Sainz finished third. Charles Leclerc could only compete during the first few minutes of the session, and then he had to retire his car because of what seems to be a clutch failure.

Regarding the rest of the weekend, the top teams only were able to test one compound during the session. Red Bull and Mercedes decided to go with the mediums, while Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin all did their early laps on hard tyres. 

Leclerc causes red flag

Eight minutes into the session, Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari spun in Turn 16, as he hit a kerb earlier and his car got stuck in third gear. The Monegasque driver had to stop on the track, causing a red flag and he had to retire his car. As a result, drivers lost out on eight minutes in the session.