Oscar Piastri topped the first and only practice session for the 2025 Miami Grand Prix with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in second and Max Verstappen in third.
Piastri set his fastest time towards the end of the session just moments before Haas' Oliver Bearman crashed into the barriers at Turn 12 which brought out the Red flag and ended the session with less than five minutes remaining.
Leclerc once again was the fastest Ferrari and was 0.356s behind Piastri in second while the reigning Formula 1 champion, and more importantly new father, Verstappen was third in the Red Bull, 0.074s further down the road in third.
Carlos Sainz was fourth fastest in the Williams, having managed a run on the Soft tyre before Bearman's crash, and was ahead of teammate Alex Albon in fifth.
Isack Hadjar was sixth fastest in the pink VCARB while George Russell was seventh having led the proceedings earlier but did not managed a run on the Soft tyres.
Yuki Tsunoda was eighth fastest in the other Red Bull, over one second off the pace while Kimi Antonelli was ninth with Fernando Alonso completing the top ten.
Lando Norris was 12th fastest, but it is worth noting that his final lap on Soft where he posted the fastest middle sector was interrupted by the Red flag, so expect the Briton to be higher up the order come Sprint qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton was down in 13th.
Buildup towards FP1
This will be the second Sprint weekend of the 2025 season and there is much to look forward to in Miami as Norris returns to the place where he won his first ever F1 race in his career and it couldn't come at a better time as the Briton needs to bounce back after losing the lead of the championship to Piastri with Verstappen breathing down his neck.
Hamilton is still looking to get on top of his Ferrari which is carrying a custom livery this weekend - the things a team needs to do to please a sponsor these days.
The Racing Bulls and Sauber also have custom liveries... But let's move on to the important stuff...
Leclerc was on the podium in the previous race in Jeddah but Hamilton struggled and is still insisting on playing down his chances.
Verstappen, after losing the win of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, will be looking to deliver the business this weekend and maybe his baby girl gives him some extra motivation. The Dutchman just arrived ahead of FP1 as he skipped Thursday's media day to be with his girlfriend and witness the birth of his girl.
In terms of tyres, Pirelli has brought the C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), and C5 (Soft) compounds this weekend.
In terms of upgrades, six teams have presented them this weekend with Red Bull having a new floor edge and floor fences on the RB21.
Mercedes have a camber change to their rear flap, circuit specific to reduce downforce and drag while Aston Martin has new front wing, new rear wing and a new beam wing all catering to the specific requirements for Miami.
Alpine have a new front brake duct as well as modified geometry for their front suspension. Sauber have a revised front suspension.
Mercedes, McLaren, and Aston Martin also have new power units bolted to their cars this weekend.
FP1 will be a very important session for the teams who have to go directly into Sprint Qualifying next.
FP1 Session Highlights
Being a Sprint weekend, the first practice session would be the only one so drivers did not waste any time getting out on track.
The session started in dry conditions with track temperatures at 39 degrees Celsius as air temperature was 27 degrees.
Norris soon complained that everything seemed to be falling apart in his car and that the team left so many tools in it and boxed immediately. That was clumsy from McLaren who became under investigation for sending their car out on track in a condition that wasn't safe.
Tsunoda complained that his seat is quite high... Russell reported that the steering was "exceptionally heavy". He then added that the car felt very different.
Doohan had a significant lockup at the hair pin but managed to keep the car on the track while Ocon later got out of shape riding the kerbs hard at Turn 15.
Hulkenberg went deep into the first turn and ended up in the run-off area while Russell had a moment through Turn 14 riding the kerbs hard, his car going out of shape and close to the barriers. He said: "That was a big moment."
Piastri also gave his McLaren a beating as he went over the kerbs at Turn 15. Hadjar had a snap of oversteer at Turn 7 but held it.
Norris had a close call with Ocon at the end of the straight as the former was on a hot lap. The Frenchman got out of the way in the last moment.
Towards the third quarter of the session the team set out doing some long runs on high fuel loads.
Verstappen had a moment with one of the Ferraris, he exclaimed: "My god, what is that?! He is fully on the racing line!"
Norris on the other hand decided to flirt with the walls...
In the final 15 minutes, Hulkenberg was the first to bolt Soft tyres while Russell reported that the wind had picked up.
More Soft-tyre runs followed soon after towards the end of the session, but Piastri while still on Mediums went very close to the wall as well which prompted him to ask the team to check the tyres. It was just a brush...
But then, with a little over four minutes remaining, Bearman brought out the Red flag as he crashed into the barriers after spinning and left facing pointing in the wrong direction at Turn 12.
There wasn't much damage to the car though, but the session was not restarted which meant the drivers could not do any practice starts.
Miami GP FP1 Classification
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