#MiamiGP FP1: @CharlesLeclerc tops time-sheets ahead of @GeorgeRussell63. #F1

Leclerc Miami GP FP1 – Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped the time-sheets in the first FP1 session at the inaugural Miami GP ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and reigning world champion Max Verstappen who completed the top three for Red Bull.

Championship leader Leclerc posted the benchmark of a 1:31.099 on the C4 red side-walled softer compounds and was 0.071 seconds quicker than second-placed Russell with Verstappen a further 0.179 seconds adrift of the Monegasque driver.

Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi lead Aston Martin duo Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel out of the pits in-front of an 80,000+ capacity crowd as they got a taste of Formula 1 on track for the first time in Miami.

All drivers except for Haas F1 Team’s Mick Schumacher took to the 5.412km Miami International Autodrome within the opening two minutes of the hour-long session, the majority completing their first stints on the C3 yellow-marked medium rubber.

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN’s Zhou Guanyu and Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez both ran deep into the first corner as they pushed to the limits on the blistering track, which was hitting more than 50 degrees.

Meanwhile, Russell was forced to hit the brakes and stop in the pit-lane due to avoiding Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso as the two-time world champion came out of the garage.

To get used to the new circuit, most teams done away with the usual installation laps to familiarise themselves and kept their drivers on the track – Schumacher joined after eight minutes in.

The Miami International Autodrome was particularly slippery as AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Leclerc had to rejoin as both lost the rears of their cars and spun, whilst Verstappen pushed to his limits by tapping the outside wall on the exit of the left-hand turn 16.

Despite their early scary moments, Leclerc hit P1 on a 1:34.846 to hold a three-tenth gap before championship-rival Verstappen lowered the benchmark to a 1:34.440 to move clear by 0.7 seconds.

Ferrari and Red Bull continued to switch places at the head of the order as the track continued to evolve, becoming more grippy, bringing the lap-times under the 1:33’s bracket.

The early running peaked with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz lapping on a 1:32.442, as team-mate Leclerc ran only a tenth off on the same medium tyre to demote soft-rubber runner Perez to third.

But the Red Bull running was quickly reduced when Verstappen, being frustrated when learning the track fully, was called into the pits after only nine tours.

The team then checked the rear end of his RB18 racer as they fought with overheating.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas brought out the red flags after the opening 25 minutes when the Finn lost the rear of his C42 racer through the medium-speed long left-hand of turns 7-8.

Bottas appeared to have a snap of over-steer as the C42 ran over the painted run-off, with the Finn powerless to resist as the car hit the TECPRO barriers.

The rear wing of the C42 took the most of the impact with Bottas unable to continue.

The session resumed eight minutes later, the disruption gave Red Bull the opportunity to send out pairing Perez and Verstappen for the final quarter of FP1.

Sainz then emerged on the C4 red-branded softs and could have caused a second red-flag in succession when the Spaniard suffered a big high-speed spin at turn four.

The Ferrari driver lost the rear of his F1-75 racer and ran over the painted run-off, and was lucky to avoid the walls on either side of the circuit and he pitted with a front-right puncture.

Verstappen after pouncing on the scare of his front-running rival, flew to the top on a 1:31.350 on the softs, then improved to a 1:31.277.

But soon the Dutchman ended it early, jumping out of his RB18 racer with four-minutes remaining having not completed more than five tours on his stint.

Verstappen’s gap was at 0.5 seconds ahead of Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon who jumped up to second on the time-sheets with an impressive effort of a 1:31.854 also on the softs.

Then Leclerc and Russell improved to set the pace, as Verstappen held third and was 0,179 second off the Ferrari.

Perez was fourth and in-front of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly who rounded out the top five, Ferrari’s Sainz who took sixth and Albon’s Williams who ended opening practice in seventh.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was eighth and ahead of Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen who finished the session in ninth.

McLaren pairing Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris were 10th and 11th respectively as Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso took 12th on the time-sheets.

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN’s Zhou ended opening practice 13th and ahead of Aston Martin’s Vettel who was 14th and Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon who placed 15th in the classification.

Aston Martin’s Stroll took 16th in the order and in-front of the aforementioned Bottas who ended FP1 in 17th for Alfa.

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda was 18th and ahead of Haas F1 Team’s Schumacher who was 19th and Williams Racing’s Latifi who brought up the rear.

You can see the full Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix 2022 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/races/1110/miami/practice-1.html

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