Miami GP: Oscar Piastri tops sole practice as Oliver Bearman crash creates Sprint Qualifying mystery

Oscar Piastri topped the sole practice session at the Miami Grand Prix as Oliver Bearman’s crash prevented much of the field from completing their preparations for Sprint Qualifying later on Friday.

With the drivers having just 60 minutes to prepare for the rest of the weekend, the soft-tyre qualifying simulations had been left to the final 10 minutes of the session, during which Bearman spun his Haas into the barriers at Turn 12 to trigger a session-ending red flag.

World championship leader Piastri was among the drivers who did complete a flying lap, which put him three tenths of a second clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in second, with Max Verstappen a further tenth back in third for Red Bull.

Lando Norris, Piastri’s McLaren team-mate and nearest championship challenger, was only 12th, having been in the final sector of his first attempt at a flying lap when the red flag was thrown.

Norris had trailed by more than three tenths after the first sector but almost halved that deficit in the second sector, leaving uncertainty over what the ultimate margin between the McLarens would have been.

Williams duo Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were fourth and fifth, respectively, having been one of the first teams to send their cars out on soft tyres.

Lewis Hamilton was another to miss out on the opportunity to complete a flying lap, with the seven-time world champion finishing 13th.

Hamilton’s early-season struggles had shown little sign of abating during medium-tyre running earlier in the session, after which he was eighth.

Mercedes’ George Russell had set the fastest time on the medium compound and finished seventh on the timesheet despite not completing a lap on the softs.

Having achieved two career firsts by winning successive races and becoming world championship leader, Piastri arrived at the sixth round of the season with plenty of momentum, along with a 10-point advantage over Norris.

The Australian did experience a minor scare as he brushed the barriers on his worn medium tyres, but once more appeared comfortable when setting the leading time.

Norris endured an eventful session, which began with the Brit realising during his first lap on track that his mechanics had left some of their tools in his cockpit. He had to immediately return to the pit lane to hand them over, while McLaren were summoned to the stewards for sending the car out in an “unsafe” condition.

Norris then survived a major scare as he almost drove into the back of Esteban Ocon after the Haas had slowed on the racing line on the high-speed approach to Turn 17. The pair thankfully avoided contact, but Ocon was summoned to the stewards to explain himself following the session.

Reigning world champion Verstappen showed no ill-effects from his late arrival at the Miami International Autodrome having missed Thursday media sessions as he remained at home to attend the birth of his first child.

The Dutchman’s Red Bull team are the only front-runners to have brought significant upgrades to Miami, in the form of an updated floor, but the truncated nature of the practice allowance made it difficult to assess the impact.

Miami GP Practice One Timesheet


Driver	Team	Time
1) Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:27.128
2) Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.356
3) Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+0.430
4) Carlos Sainz	Williams	+0.550
5) Alex Albon	Williams	+0.827
6) Isack Hadjar	RB	+0.840
7) George Russell	Mercedes	+0.930
8) Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull	+1.027
9) Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+1.099
10) Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+1.115
11) Liam Lawson	RB	+1.246
12) Lando Norris	McLaren	+1.263
13) Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+1.428
14) Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	+1.445
15) Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	+1.643
16) Oliver Bearman	Haas	+1.868
17) Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.956
18) Esteban Ocon	Haas	+2.051
19) Jack Doohan	Alpine	+2.229
20) Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+2.234