FP1 Report | Leclerc tops first session in Miami, as Russell finished 2nd

The Ferrari is still at the top as Charles Leclerc tops the session. A great performance from Russell and Mercedes to finish in P2, as the reigning world champion Max Verstappen finished in third. We saw the track rubber in throughout the session as times kept dropping and dropping when we got to the end of the session. As Mercedes put in a great performance as the porpoising is reduced and their true speed is shown.

First Red Flag in Miami owed to Bottas

It was a spin into the barrier for Valtteri Bottas that brought out the first red flag of both the weekend and the track in the opening session. The Fin was a little late on the brakes and ended up spinning into the barrier. Bottas wasn't the only driver that had a spin in FP1, as Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz also found themselves backwards at points.

Porpoising reduced at Miami

News that Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes will be elated with as the cars got around the American track, the proposing seemed nowhere near as bad as it has been before. Speculation is this could be because of the reduced downforce requirements of the Miami circuit, so teams might not know how effective their upgrades will be till later. But any improvements to the porpoising issues will be appreciated by the drivers.

Reverse fortunes for HAAS and Mercedes

While the reduced porpoising seems to be treating the Mercedes well as there were times throughout the session where they managed to match the Ferrari's for pace. Especially George Russell who seems to still be more dialled in with this Mercedes than seven-time champion Hamilton. While the HAAS has been the best of the rest at times this season is now struggling to break into the top 10. Although they had a few issues which meant they didn't set a lap for the first 10 or so minutes. They remained in the bottom half until right at the end. With Kevin Magnussen in P11 and Mich Schumacher in P19.