F1: Russell leads Mercedes 1-2 in opening Miami GP Practice
–by Mark Cipolloni–
Leaving their fastest run right to the end, the Mercedes F1 drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton turned the fastest laps in opening practice for the Crypto.com Miami GP.
Russell’s lap of 1m30.125s beat his teammate by 0.212s on the newly surfaced and still somewhat green Miami Gardens track. Those were very impressive laps from the Mercedes drivers.
Charles Leclerc was third quick for Ferrari while his teammate Carlos Sainz rounded out the top-5 in the second Ferrari.
Max Verstappen was 4th for Red Bull, but he focussed on long runs on the hard tire late in the session.
It was a tricky session for many, with a dusty track catching a few out. Hulkenberg was the one to really cause some damage by properly connecting with the barriers, while de Vries also lost some running after a spin earlier on.
Practice 1 Results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 1:30.125 | +0.000s | 17 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 1:30.337 | +0.212s | 24 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 1:30.449 | +0.324s | 22 |
| 4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:30.549 | +0.424s | 22 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 1:30.724 | +0.599s | 22 |
| 6 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:31.104 | +0.979s | 19 |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:31.231 | +1.106s | 24 |
| 8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:31.337 | +1.212s | 23 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 1:31.392 | +1.267s | 14 |
| 10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:31.542 | +1.417s | 26 |
| 11 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:31.566 | +1.441s | 22 |
| 12 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:31.810 | +1.685s | 23 |
| 13 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 1:31.853 | +1.728s | 24 |
| 14 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | ALFA ROMEO FERRARI | 1:31.902 | +1.777s | 23 |
| 15 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:31.903 | +1.778s | 24 |
| 16 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:31.997 | +1.872s | 23 |
| 17 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | ALFA ROMEO FERRARI | 1:32.134 | +2.009s | 21 |
| 18 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT | 1:32.169 | +2.044s | 27 |
| 19 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:32.619 | +2.494s | 26 |
| 20 | 21 | Nyck De Vries | ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT | 1:34.637 | +4.512s | 10 |