Leclerc leads the pack during Free Practice for the inaugural Miami GP- FP1 highlights
Crashes, red flags and spins- FP1 saw a fair bit of action as the drivers learnt the basics of the track for the first time.
FP1 at the Miami International Autodrome was eventful, as the teams and drivers took to the track for the first time. Adorning their all-new helmets, the drivers had mixed fortunes- some had an impressively good session, while a few had spins, lockups and even a few crashes. Without any further ado, here’s the rundown of the events of FP1!
No sooner than FP1 began did we see a traffic jam, as nearly everyone wanted to come out early to avoid traffic! There were a few close calls on track, as were in the pit lane- Russell and Ocon came too close to comfort to one another while in the fast lane of the pitlane.
After that, we had the mistakes flow in- Max hit the wall, while Charles, Carlos and Yuki had a spin each. However, soon after that Bottas had a massive spin and lost the car, hitting the barrier and red flagging the session in the process. Max had to spend a lot of time in the garage as a result as the team determined the damage to his car.
Learning a new track is never easy!
Valtteri Bottas brought out the red flag in first practice after hitting the wall 💥#MiamiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/MI0Y1PWLuo
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 6, 2022
Once the session resumed, Max did go fastest though was soon displaced by Leclerc and Russell, the former coming out on top at the end. Mercedes’ upgrades seem to be working at making their car better, given how Russell finished P2 and Hamilton was on for a good lap until he was hampered by traffic.
The session ended with championship leader Leclerc on top, followed by Russell and Verstappen. Something of note was how well Alex Albon is performing as compared to teammate Latifi- the Thai driver was nearly 4 seconds faster than the Canadian!
Despite this, FP1’s times might not be the most representative in the long run. However, what is obvious is that the downforce upgrades on the Mercedes seem to be working well, as their deficit to the top runners has reduced by a fair bit. FP2 should give us a better picture- stay tuned for highlights soon.
