Oscar Piastri Tops Chaotic Miami GP Practice Session

Oscar Piastri finished fastest in the single practice session at the Miami Grand Prix. A crash by Oliver Bearman significantly impacted the preparations of many drivers for Sprint Qualifying later on Friday.

With drivers having only 60 minutes to prepare for the rest of the weekend, the crucial soft-tyre qualifying simulations were left for the final 10 minutes. However, Bearman spun his Haas into the barriers at Turn 12, causing a session-ending red flag.

World championship leader Piastri was one of the few drivers who managed to complete a flying lap on the soft tyres. His time put him three-tenths of a second ahead of Ferrari`s Charles Leclerc, who finished second. Max Verstappen was a further tenth back in third for Red Bull.

Piastri`s McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, ended the session in 12th place. He was in the final sector of his flying lap attempt when the red flag was shown.

Norris had been trailing by more than three tenths after the first sector but had halved that deficit by the second sector. This left uncertainty about what the ultimate time difference between the two McLaren drivers might have been.

The Williams duo of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon finished fourth and fifth respectively. They were among the first teams to send their cars out on soft tyres earlier in the session.

Lewis Hamilton was another driver who missed the opportunity to complete a flying lap on the soft compound, finishing the session in 13th place.

Hamilton`s struggles from the start of the season continued during the earlier runs on medium tyres, where he was placed eighth.

Mercedes driver George Russell had set the fastest time on the medium compound and finished seventh overall despite not getting a lap in on the soft tyres.

Having recently achieved two career firsts by winning successive races and taking the lead in the world championship, Piastri arrived at the sixth round of the season with significant momentum, holding a 10-point advantage over Norris.

The Australian experienced a minor scare when he brushed the barriers on his worn medium tyres, but he still looked comfortable when setting the fastest time.

Norris had an eventful session. It began on his first lap when he realised his mechanics had left tools in his cockpit. He immediately returned to the pit lane to hand them over, an incident that led to McLaren being summoned to the stewards for sending the car out in an `unsafe` condition.

Norris later had a major scare when he narrowly avoided driving into the back of Esteban Ocon`s Haas, which had slowed down on the racing line on the high-speed approach to Turn 17. The pair thankfully avoided contact, but Ocon was summoned to the stewards after the session to explain the situation.

Watch the bizarre moment a mechanic left a torch in Lando Norris` cockpit during practice.

Lando Norris narrowly avoids Esteban Ocon in a close call during practice.

Analysis of Red Bull`s major upgrade brought to Miami.

Miami GP Practice One Timesheet