Charles Leclerc Tops Miami Practice by 0.297s in Ferrari
charles leclerc went quickest in Miami Grand Prix practice on Friday, topping the only session in a heavily-upgraded Ferrari by 0.297 seconds over Max Verstappen. The lap put Ferrari at the front of the first competitive read on the upgraded cars before Sprint Qualifying, with Mercedes already carrying questions into the evening.
Leclerc Sets the Miami Pace
Leclerc’s advantage over Verstappen was the clearest number from the 90-minute practice session. Oscar Piastri was third, and Lewis Hamilton finished 0.467 seconds behind Leclerc after trailing his Ferrari team-mate throughout the run.
That left Ferrari with the fastest car on the sheet at the end of the only practice window available to the field in Miami. The session mattered because every team apart from Aston Martin brought upgrades to the weekend, giving the grid its first direct comparison in race trim before Sprint Qualifying.
Mercedes Lose Soft-Tyre Time
Mercedes left practice with a different problem. A power unit issue stopped Andrea Kimi Antonelli from doing a soft tyre run, and George Russell ended up nearly eight tenths off the pace in sixth.
Russell had earlier reported a strange noise from the turbo that sounded like a “steam engine,” and the pace gap raised fresh concern for a team that had won the opening three Grands Prix and had been unbeaten in competitive sessions this year. Karun Chandhok summed up the uncertainty on the live broadcast with three questions: “What have Mercedes got in their pocket?” “Has George Russell been sandbagging? Has he got a set-up issue he's not happy with?” “That's the question mark coming out of this session as, otherwise, we've suddenly got three other teams in that fight.”
Miami Upgrade Check
Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull arrived with new floors, while Mercedes brought a revised front corner and new tailpipe. That meant Leclerc’s benchmark was not just about one lap on Friday; it was the first sharp read on how the Miami upgrade packages stacked up before the field returned for Sprint Qualifying at 9.30pm, with build-up from 8.40pm.
For Ferrari, the cleanest takeaway was the gap at the top. For Mercedes, the session turned into damage control after losing soft-tyre running and watching Russell end practice sixth, while Antonelli never got the chance to post a comparable lap.
