#F1 #MiamiGP FP1: @CharlesLeclerc quickest ahead of @Max33Verstappen, @OscarPiastri.

Leclerc Miami GP FP1 – Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped the sole practice session at the Miami GP ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who completed the top three as the sport returned following its five-week break due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix. Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli was unable to get a qualifying simulation lap in due to a power-unit issue near the session’s end.

Leclerc posted the session-topping benchmark on the C5 red side-walled softer compounds with a 1:29.310 and was 0.297 seconds in-front of Verstappen whilst Piastri was a further 0.448 seconds adrift of the Monegasque driver in third.

Williams’ Carlos Sainz was the first to hit the Miami International Autodrome and lead the pack out on a set of the C3 harder compounds.

The Spaniard was the first to register the benchmark of a 1:53.602 and was beaten by Leclerc’s 1:33.620 then by Hamilton’s 1:32.564 effort as RB’s Lian Lawson slotted into third on a 1:34.984.

Haas’s Oliver Bearman then jumped into third, but only briefly as McLaren’s Norris went to P1 with a 1:31.941 as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen moved to second with a 1:32.022.

Sainz jumped to third on a 1:32.533 as the other Red Bull of Isack Hadjar and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg split the two Ferrari’s in fifth and sixth respectively with their 1:32.728 and 1:32.966 efforts.

Leclerc was next and the Ferrari driver went fastest on a 1:31.874 to be 0.067 seconds clear of Norris as replays showed Hamilton suffer a lock-up.

Hamilton moved up to fourth in the order despite his lock-up as Verstappen went quickest with a 1:31.709 only momentarily as Norris went quickest posting a 1:30.688.

Norris’s team-mate Piastri slotted into third in the order and 1.053 off his leading team-mate.

Championship leader Antonelli put his Silver Arrow second on a 1:31.428 to be 0.740 seconds off Norris’s benchmark as Russell ended up 1.547 seconds off the leading McLaren in sixth at the sessions’ 12^th-minute-mark.

Leclerc with three personal bests ended up 0.452 seconds off Norris with his 1:31.140 flyer as team-mate Hamilton moved to third with his 1:31.306 hot-lap on the hards.

Norris improved to a 1:30.688 as Verstappen followed in second setting a 1:31.047 to be 0.359 off the reigning world champion.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly jumped to sixth posting a 1:31.676 as his team-mate Franco Colapinto was demoted to eighth with a 1:31.799.

Antonelli remained in fifth despite an improvement with his 1:31.428 as Norris gained even more to go even faster at the top on a 1:30.355 as the drivers continued to circulate on the harder rubber.

Hamilton with a purple sector one and two personal bests moved to second posting a 1:30.875 to be 0.540 off Norris as replays showed the former suffer another lock-up with a flat spot visible on his front-left tyre.

Colapinto moved up into seventh overall with his improvement to end up 1.175 seconds off Norris’ best effort as the majority of the field began returning to the garage to adjust their setups before heading out again.

Antonelli was next on a flyer, and the championship leader put his Mercedes at the head of the time-sheets setting a 1:30.079 to go 0.256 seconds quicker than Norris with an hour and seven minutes remaining in the extended sole practice session.

Verstappen emerged on the C4 yellow-marked medium tyres.

Leclerc with three personal bests moved to second with his 1:30.296 on the hards as Verstappen despite a purple final sector slotted into fourth with a 1:30.465 effort.

Russell who was complaining with the turbo sounding like a train earlier, put his Silver Arrow eighth to be 1.486 off team-mate Antonelli’s best time.

Both Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finally joined the track after being held up in the garage due to power-unit issues as the duo remained at the rear with efforts both over 6.5 seconds down on Antonelli’s session-topping time.

Hadjar on the mediums placed ninth on a 1:31.587 with two personal bests sectors one and two and ended up 1.508 adrift of Antonelli’s benchmark.

Verstappen was unable to improve on his next flyer on the mediums as Russell put his Mercedes sixth quickest on a 1:31.028 to be 0.949 off team-mate Antonelli as the Briton completed 11 laps.

Hadjar remained in ninth on his flyer on the mediums to be 1.493 seconds off Antonelli’s best effort with less than an hour left in the session.

Piastri with two personal best efforts remained sixth with his 1:31.003 as his team-mate Norris jumped to second with a purple sector two and set a 1:30.208 to end up 0.129 off Antonelli.

Leclerc despite improving was down in third to be 0.166 off Antonelli’s benchmark.

Hulkenberg with two personal bests moved to tenth in the classification posting a 1:31.595 as Norris could not improve on his next flying lap despite a purple opening sector.

Replays showed Norris suffering a snap out of the final corner on that tour.

Leclerc was next continuing his run on the C3 harder tyres as the Monegasque driver went quickest on a 1:29.855 to be 0.224 seconds ahead of Antonelli as Hamilton improved to third on a 1:30.195 to be 0.340 seconds off his leading Ferrari team-mate with 46 minutes remaining.

The Aston Martin pairing of Alonso and Stroll emerged first on the softer rubber as the former abandoned his flyer whilst his team-mate jumped to 18^th posting a 1:33.399 to be 3.544 off Leclerc’s best time.

Gasly with three personal bests to go eighth overall with his 1:31.241 hot-lap and wounded up 1.386 off Leclerc’s top time.

Alonso put his Honda-powered AMR26 entry into 18^th ahead of his team-mate Stroll with a 1:32.963 effort with 37 minutes remaining on the clock.

“What is he doing?” asked Antonelli as he caught himself in some traffic particularly from a weaving Aston Martin of Alonso in-front of him. The Italian was still out there on the harder tyres and remained in P2 after a healthy 23 laps at this stage of proceedings.

Cadillac’s Sergio Perez also dealt with a troublesome Aston Martin of Stroll getting into the path of the Mexican as he complained over the radio.

The majority of the field continued to lap the Miami International Autodrome on the harder compounds bar the Red Bull’s and Perez on the mediums and two Aston Martin’s on the softs running long race data gathering stints.

The other Cadillac MAC01 entry of Valtteri Bottas was also on the softer compounds and could only reach 20^th with his 1:33.278 with 20 minutes remaining in the sole hour-and-a-half long session.

The majority of the field returned to the pits to adjust their setups and prepare to do their qualifying simulation runs.

Replays showed Bottas suffering a massive front-left lock-up into turn one.

Russell emerged on the softer compounds and the first of the front-runners to use the C5’s.

The Briton registered a 1:30.100 to go third quickest despite running deep into the penultimate corner only momentarily as Verstappen jumped to second on a 1:29.776 as Leclerc went fastest with a 1:24.443 as Piastri slotted into third to be 0.518 adrift of the Monegasque driver.

Hamilton improved to third on his initial flyer on the softs to go 0.334 off his team-mate.

Norris was next on his hot-lap and had a close call with Albon almost running into the Williams on the back-straight forcing the reigning world champion to abandon his tour.

Verstappen improved to be 0.164 seconds off Leclerc whilst Piastri slotted to third with a 1:29.758.

Championship leader Antonelli was forced to end his session early and not complete his qualifying simulation run due to a power-unit issue.

Leclerc improved once more posting a 1:29.310 to go 0.297 seconds clear of Verstappen.

Replays showed Bearman, Norris and Hulkenberg all locking up into turn one with drivers dealing with the challenge of a tail wind on the main-straight and the bumps.

The session ended with Leclerc ahead of Verstappen and Piastri.

Hamilton followed in fourth and in-front of the two Mercedes of Antonelli and Russell who were fifth and sixth respectively.

Norris placed seventh and ahead of Gasly who took eighth whilst Hadjar and Sainz completed the top ten runners.

You can see the full Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix 2026 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: FORMULA 1 CRYPTO.COM MIAMI GRAND PRIX 2026 – PRACTICE 1

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