After the initial rebellion of the Silver Arrow duo, Max Verstappen took command again on the opening day of the Formula 1 spectacle in Miami. It remains to be seen whether last year’s winner will have to prepare for a fierce battle for pole this Saturday in qualifying after the training session.
With a top lap at the Miami International Autodrome, last year’s winner from the Netherlands relegated Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari to second place in the significantly faster second free practice session on Friday. Backlog: a whopping 0.385 seconds. Verstappen was the only one to stay under 1:28 in 1:27.930 minutes.
Sainz was followed by his Monegasque team-mate Charles Leclerc, for whom training ended early in the evening, and Sergio Pérez. The 33-year-old Mexican is only six points behind Verstappen in the World Cup classification after his successful Baku weekend. “I hope so,” the World Championship leader spontaneously said when asked about a stable duel for victory in the first of a total of three US races this year. Pérez needed 0.489 seconds more for the one fast lap.
In the first one-hour unit, in which George Russell raced to first place in front of his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton shortly before the end, Verstappen was fourth and Pérez content with eleventh place.
Ultimately, Nico Hülkenberg was lucky after a crash during the first free practice session. The 35-year-old, who was born in Emmerich, spun on the new and slippery asphalt in his Haas racing car and crashed into the track wall. Hülkenberg was not injured, the damage to the car was limited. After ninth place, he was also able to compete in the second practice session, but only finished 17th. In the second practice session, Leclerc caused red flags around ten minutes before the end. He went off the track in turn eight, but was also uninjured.
The weather could provide a special drama in the race this Sunday (9:30 p.m. CEST/Sky). Thunderstorms are possible. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner predicted a lottery for victory in the fifth race of the season for the rain.
