George Russell, the young British Mercedes driver, recorded the fastest lap in the first free practice session of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, followed by his teammate Lewis Hamilton. Russell managed to impose an unexpected Mercedes dominance by setting a time of 1:30.125, leaving Hamilton behind by 0.212 seconds. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took third place, also beating reigning Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull.
Verstappen, who currently leads the overall standings, was fourth after leading much of the practice session in Miami, where he won the inaugural edition of the Grand Prix last year. His Red Bull teammate, Mexico’s Sergio Perez, who placed second for the season, finished a distant eleventh.
Spaniards Carlos Sáinz of Ferrari and Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin-Mercedes finished fifth and seventh, respectively, at the Miami International Speedway, located around the Hard Rock Stadium. Testing was interrupted after 26 minutes when Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg hit the wall at Turn 3.
The second free practice session for the Miami Grand Prix, the fifth on the calendar, will start later in the day. Mexico’s Perez, who is coming off an impressive victory at last year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, is just six points behind teammate Verstappen and has ambitions to unseat him at the top of the overall standings on Sunday.