George Russell tops FP2 in Miami

George Russell has finished Friday practice as the fastest driver in FP2 on the new Miami Grand Prix circuit around Hard Rock Stadium. 

Russell improved on a second place in the first session to top the final practice of the day, as Mercedes appear to be finding pace within the cars, with porpoising seeming to be less of an issue than it has been at the last few rounds. 

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped FP1 but ended the second session a tenth slower than Russell. 

Both practice sessions saw red flags, with incidents for Carlos Sainz and Valtteri Bottas.

There were plenty of moments in the first session as drivers got used to the new circuit, but it was Bottas that brought out the first red flag of the weekend. 

Bottas had a moment going through Turn 7, damaging the rear of his Alfa Romeo, when he made contact with the wall. 

Leclerc sat 0.071 seconds faster than Russell at the end of the session, while Verstappen was 0.179 off the time set by the Ferrari to sit third, ending his session early as his Red Bull entry struggled with overheating issues. 

Sainz went fastest early in FP2 but found himself in the Turn 14 wall shortly after leaving the front left corner of his Ferrari with damage, bringing out the red flag. 

Shortly after the session restarted Verstappen had another issue with his rear brake catching fire, almost being rear-ended by Lance Stroll as he tried to get the Red Bull back to the pit lane. 

Verstappen, who had missed the start of the session as the team completed a gearbox change, didn’t set a time in FP2 as a result of the issue, as well as Bottas who didn’t make it out on track due to the damage from the FP1 incident.  

The third red flag of the day was called for Nicholas Latifi’s Williams which had stopped on track. 

Between the incidents, Russell set a 1.29.938 minute lap to end the session a tenth clear of FP1 leader Leclerc with Perez close behind in third, and Hamilton another tenth back in fourth. 

FP3 is scheduled to get underway at 5 am tomorrow morning ahead of qualifying at 8 am. 

Miami Grand Prix FP1 Results:

Miami Grand Prix FP2 Results:

_{Main image: Mercedes}