RUSSELL AND MERC FASTEST ON FRIDAY IN MIAMI
There was drama and action aplenty on the opening day of practice at the brand-new Miami street circuit as Mercedes driver George Russell topped the timesheets.
The young Englishman was towards the front all day long, the Mercedes driver was second in practice 1 before topping the time sheets in practice 2.
Charles Leclerc was second fastest just 0.106s back, as several of the Ferrari driver’s championship rivals struck problems.
His teammate Carlos Sainz locked the rear brakes and spun into the at Turn 14 just 18 minutes into practice 2. In the crash the Spaniard damaged the car plucking the left-front wheel off, forcing him to sit out the remainder of the session.
After winning the most recent race at Imola, reigning world champion Max Verstappen did not complete a lap in the second session.
The team elected to make a precautionary gearbox change just prior to fp2, forcing him to miss the first half of the session.
When the Dutchman went out onto the track the Red Bull Racing driver found the steering wheel incredibly heavy, he had a hydraulic issue, he limped back to the lane but was out of the session.
Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez ended the day as the third fastest man, 0.212s off the time set by Russell.
Lewis Hamilton was unable to match his young teammate he ended the day in fourth 0.241s back.
It appears as though Mercedes have made a step forwards this weekend with a raft of new updates including a new low downforce rear wing, revised front wing and beam wing.
Fernando Alonso was pushing the limits as always, in his Alpine he rounded out the top five.
Next came McLaren’s Lando Norris, Pierre Gasly, Zhou Guanyu, Esteban Ocon and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
Aussie Daniel Ricciardo ended the day just behind Sainz in 12th.
Charles Leclerc was second fastest on day 1, while his closest title rivals missed valuable track time – Image: Motorsport Images
In practice 1, despite a small spin, championship leader Leclerc was fastest. The positive day for Mercedes commenced with Russell setting the second fastest time only 0.071s off the pace.
Verstappen ended the session third fastest 0.179s, however Verstappen also missed a large chunk of practice 1 after he touched the wall on the exit of Turn 16.
AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly rounded out the top five from Leclerc’s teammate Sainz failed to get a soft tyre time on the board in practice 1.
He spun late at Turn 4 and was lucky not to hit any wall on the way through. Sadly however he picked up a puncture in the process courtesy of a big lock up into Turn 1.
Both Verstappen and Sainz are very much on the backfoot after Friday’s action.
Seventh fastest for Williams was Albon, ahead of Lewis Hamilton – who had to abort his soft tyre run when he was baulked by traffic.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Ricciardo rounded out the top 10.
Although there were multiple spins around the brand-new 19 turn course, particularly in practice 1, Valtteri Bottas was caught out most, spinning backwards into the wall. The damage was significant enough for him to miss the entirety of practice 2.
