Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Charles Leclerc put Ferrari on top in the only practice session of the Miami Grand Prix weekend, setting a 1:29.310 to beat Max Verstappen by 0.297s as Mercedes’ unbeaten start to the season was disrupted by problems for both of its cars.
That made Miami’s extended 90-minute session especially significant. With sprint qualifying to follow later on Friday and no second practice to recover lost ground, Ferrari left the clearest early statement after the five-week break and the introduction of technical tweaks for this weekend.
Leclerc’s pace came in an upgraded Ferrari that looked competitive throughout the session. Verstappen was second for Red Bull on 1:29.607, Oscar Piastri was third for McLaren on 1:29.758, and Lewis Hamilton backed up Ferrari’s speed in fourth on 1:29.777, 0.467s off his team-mate.
Mercedes had looked in the fight before the session turned against it. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli led after the opening half-hour with a 1:30.079 on the hard tyre, and that time ultimately kept him fifth, but a late power unit issue meant he could not join the decisive soft-tyre runs at the end.
George Russell’s afternoon was also compromised. He reported a turbo problem early in the session, which Mercedes managed with a reset in the garage, but he could do no better than sixth on 1:30.100, 0.790s off Leclerc.
The headline result therefore carried more weight than a normal Friday timesheet. Mercedes arrived in Miami after winning the first three races of the season, yet Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull all showed enough pace to suggest the front could be far tighter this weekend, particularly with Mercedes bringing only limited changes compared with the larger upgrade packages on rival cars.
Leclerc first moved into the 1:29s with a 1:29.855 before the field switched to softs in the closing phase. Verstappen briefly took over at the top with a 1:29.776, but Leclerc answered immediately, first with a 1:29.443 and then with the session-best 1:29.310.
McLaren’s final position also hid some of its pace. Piastri remained in the top three, while Lando Norris ended up seventh on 1:30.208 after a promising soft-tyre lap was spoiled when he had to take evasive action to avoid Alex Albon at Turn 17.
That leaves Ferrari as the early pace-setter, but the more important shift was behind it. Mercedes no longer looked untouchable, and with Antonelli denied a representative soft-tyre run, sprint qualifying will decide whether Ferrari’s upgrades have genuinely moved it to the front or whether Miami FP1 simply exposed Mercedes at its most vulnerable moment.