Max Verstappen, from the Netherlands, and the Red Bull Racing team dominated the practice session for the Miami Grand Prix in the Formula 1 World Championship. Verstappen, who has already won the race twice before, faced some challenges during the session, including front locking and lack of grip on his soft tires. However, he managed to recover and set the fastest time of 1:28.595s. McLaren driver Oscar Piastri came in second, 0.105s behind Verstappen. McLaren introduced a significant upgrade package for the race, including changes to the front wing, suspension, floor, sidepod inlet, and cooling openings. Lando Norris had all the upgrades, while Piastri only had half of the new components and will receive the rest at the next stage in Imola. Norris finished in 16th place, struggling with asymmetric steering assistance, which McLaren plans to correct before the sprint qualifying. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished third, but his teammate Charles Leclerc had a problematic session, spinning and getting stuck on the narrow track. Mercedes’ George Russell finished in fourth place, followed by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Lewis Hamilton finished in seventh place, with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completing the top 10, showing improvement for the struggling French team.
