FP1: Leclerc leads Verstappen and Piastri during Miami practice as Mercedes hit trouble

Charles Leclerc topped the timesheets as the 2026 F1 season resumed with Free Practice 1 for the Miami Grand Prix on Friday – the Ferrari driver leading the way from Red Bull rival Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, while Mercedes faced early issues.

Leclerc worked his way down to a benchmark lap of 1m 29.310s in typically hot and humid conditions at the Miami International Autodrome, where drivers were back in action after an extended five-week April break.

In recognition of that gap, the recently announced rule refinements and the fact that the Miami weekend is running to the Sprint format, which features only one practice session, FP1 was extended from the usual 60 minutes to 90.

This gave the 11 teams and 22 drivers a little bit more time to get back into a rhythm, understand the rule tweaks and learn about a host of upgrades applied to their cars – Aston Martin being the only squad not to declare any aerodynamic developments this weekend.

Unsurprisingly, when the session got under way at 1200 local time, plenty of those drivers were quick to leave the pit lane and get their first laps in around the 5.412-kilometre Florida venue, with most starting on the hardest tyre compound for some exploratory tours.

By the 15-minute mark, everyone apart from Aston Martin pair Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll had appeared, with Norris holding P1 in the mid-1m30s bracket, followed by the Red Bull of Verstappen and the Ferraris of Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Aston Martin subsequently confirmed a power issue in their garage, while there were early concerns for Pierre Gasly (who reported a “very strange smell” aboard his Alpine) and George Russell (whose turbo was “making a lot of noises… a bit like a steam train”).

Stroll and Alonso were eventually sent out just over 20 minutes into the session, with Honda chiefs no doubt watching on eagerly following the implementation of further countermeasures aimed at reducing engine vibrations and improving reliability.

Also gathering answers to key development questions were Ferrari and Red Bull – the former revealing an updated version of their ‘flip-flop’ rear wing early in FP1, and the latter deploying a rotating concept of their own, as they both push to catch Mercedes.

After half an hour, it was championship leader Antonelli who sat at the top of the times, having slotted ahead of Leclerc, Lando Norris, Verstappen and Hamilton on a 1m 30.079s, while team mate Russell’s tricky start continued with a massive double lock-up that flat-spotted both front tyres.

Around 20 minutes later, Leclerc triggered another change at the front by clocking a 1m 29.855s, with Hamilton also finding time in the sister Ferrari to go third, just behind Antonelli – the top three still yet to swap the hard tyres for mediums or softs.

Alonso and Stroll were the first drivers to take on the softest rubber, but could only go 18th and 19th respectively, some three seconds off the pace, while the Canadian frustrated both Antonelli and Perez by appearing to get in their way on separate laps.

Plenty more drivers duly switched to softs over the final 20 minutes of the session, leading to a flurry of personal best and overall best sector times through to the chequered flag – Leclerc ultimately posting the quickest time: a 1m 29.310s.

Leclerc’s improvement put him almost three-tenths clear of Verstappen, and another tenth up on Piastri, with Hamilton also in the front-running group despite encountering a slow-moving Audi in the final minutes and having to back out of a run.

Mercedes experienced further trouble as the session drew to a close, with Antonelli unable to complete a lap on softs due to mechanics troubleshooting a power unit issue – leaving him fifth from Russell, who could only go sixth with the red-marked tyres.

Norris bailed out of his soft tyre run when he approached Alex Albon’s Williams at the final hairpin and ran wide, meaning the reigning World Champion wound up a distant seventh over Gasly, Isack Hadjar and Carlos Sainz.

Franco Colapinto and Albon were next up in P11 and P12 respectively, from the Haas and Audi machines of Ollie Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon, while the Racing Bulls, Cadillac and Aston Martin drivers brought up the rear.