Practice 1 Report - Piastri leads FP1, Bearman crash ends session

Oscar Piastri
© McLaren

Oscar Piastri set the pace in a shortened first and only practice session for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, as the McLaren driver delivered a late flyer just before a red flag halted the session due to a crash by Haas stand-in Oliver Bearman.

With only a single hour of running on this sprint weekend, teams wasted no time getting out on track. However, Lando Norris’s session got off to a rocky start after reporting loose items in his cockpit during his installation laps. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen, returning to the paddock days after the birth of his first child, immediately showcased pace as he trialed Red Bull’s updated floor and jumped to the top of the early timing screens.

George Russell led the way after the opening quarter on medium tyres, clocking a 1m28.058s that stood as the benchmark for most of the session. Russell’s effort came ahead of team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Williams’s Carlos Sainz, and both McLarens, as most of the field ran longer stints on medium rubber to gather data in the Miami heat.

The session intensified in the final 10 minutes when drivers began bolting on soft tyres for qualifying simulations. Williams duo Sainz and Alex Albon were among the first to post improvements, but their times were quickly eclipsed by the usual front-runners. Charles Leclerc briefly took over at the top before Verstappen reclaimed the lead with a 1m27.558s — only for Piastri to go even faster with a 1m27.128s after setting the best time in all three sectors.

Any remaining improvements were cut short when Oliver Bearman lost the rear of his Haas and lightly hit the barriers, prompting a red flag with four minutes remaining. The session was not restarted, locking in the times and denying several drivers—including Norris and Lewis Hamilton—a final push lap on softs.

As a result, Leclerc and Verstappen settled for second and third, with Sainz and Albon impressing in fourth and fifth for Williams. Rookie Isack Hadjar continued his strong adaptation in the magenta-liveried Racing Bulls car, finishing sixth ahead of Russell and the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda.

Antonelli and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10. Norris was 12th and Hamilton 13th, both using mediums for their best efforts. Behind them, Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto placed 14th and 15th for Sauber, while Bearman, despite his crash, slotted into 16th.

Alpine endured another tough session as Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan languished near the back, while Lance Stroll was last for Aston Martin, over two seconds off the pace.

With just this disrupted hour of data, teams now head into sprint qualifying later on Friday underprepared, raising the stakes for the remainder of the weekend.