Verstappen ultimately sets the fastest time in messy training in Miami | formula 1

Verstappen had a messy training session with two moments of wheel locking at the end of the long straight in Miami, after which he briefly shot straight ahead with the Red Bull. The Dutchman spent most of the session on the same set of medium tyres, but switched to the softs in the final ten minutes.

He also had a moment there, after which Verstappen complained over the on-board radio that his tires were much too hot and there was no grip. With one minute left on the clock, the Limburger still squeezed a fast time out of his Red Bull: 1.28.595.

Oscar Piastri came closest to that in the new McLaren. The Australian conceded a tenth, ahead of Carlos Sainz in the partly blue-painted Ferrari. Sergio Pérez only finished sixth in the second Red Bull.

Things went wrong early in training for Charles Leclerc, who spun at the exit of the tight chicane in Miami. That was fairly harmless, but the Monegasque could no longer get his car in the right direction between the tight walls and eventually had to get out. That also caused a red flag, which also caused the other drivers to lose time in the precious only free practice.

The drivers will qualify later in the evening for the sprint race on Friday morning. That session starts at 10:30 PM Dutch time.