F1 Miami GP: Oscar Piastri tops practice session cut…

McLaren's championship leader Oscar Piastri set the fastest time in practice ahead of the F1 Miami Grand Prix, which was red flagged for the stricken Haas of Oliver Bearman.

The sprint weekend's sole practice session got off to a false start for last year's maiden winner Lando Norris, who reported some items were left loose in the car during his first run.

Having arrived in Miami after celebrating the birth of his first child, world champion Max Verstappen soon shot to the top of the timetables while he was trialling Red Bull's new floor for this weekend.

Mercedes driver George Russell led the way after the first quarter with a 1m28.488s on mediums, ahead of Verstappen and McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Norris.

Russell then shaved off time to set a 1m28.058 on the same compound, followed by his team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Williams man Carlos Sainz, who snuck past both McLarens.

Russell's lap would stay on top for the majority of the session as nearly the entire grid stuck to Pirelli's medium tyres in the Miami heat to dial in set-ups for sprint qualifying later on Friday.

George Russell, Mercedes (Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images)

But then, the soft tyres came out for a bout of qualifying simulations in the final 10 minutes. Williams duo Sainz and Alex Albon were the first drivers to up the ante on softs, but they were inevitably and swiftly demoted by the top teams.

Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc both cycled through to a temporary lead until three fastest sectors netted Piastri a leading time of 1m27.128s.

Norris' soft-lap attempt, as well as that of several other frontrunners, was thwarted by an incident involving Haas driver Bearman, who spun gently into the barriers with four minutes to go and brought out a red flag that effectively ended running early.

This meant Leclerc and Verstappen remained in second and third respectively, followed by Sainz and Albon. Isack Hadjar was sixth in the one-off magenta Racing Bulls car, ahead of Russell and the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda.

Antonelli and Aston Martin ace Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10, with the late red flag denying the likes of Norris and 13th placed Hamilton a more representative time.

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