Miami, EL1 – Leclerc in control, Sainz feverish and Bottas in the wall

The inaugural practice session for the first edition of the Miami Grand Prix (Florida) was not without events this Friday, May 6. The 20 drivers discovered the 5,410 km track in heat and humidity worthy of the meetings in Singapore or Malaysia (more than 30 degrees in the air and 54 degrees on the asphalt).

From then on, tire performance was one of the subjects to watch out for on the pit wall. Grip was also a complicated issue to master, particularly in the winding section of the circuit (turns 13 to 16), where several competitors slid until they touched the concrete wall with their right rear wheel.

The protections, Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) more than touched them. The Finn made a mistake at turn 7 and ended his session after half an hour on the tires. The rear of his machine is destroyed but the former pilot Mercedes is unharmed.

🚩RED FLAGS 🚩

Valtteri Bottas loses the back-end of the car and hits the wall 💥

He's out of the car, and on his way back to the paddock#MiamiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/5Fa7hrs8J6

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 6, 2022

Precisely, the clan of the Star brand is finding some colors in Florida. George Russell set the second best time, just 71 thousandths behind Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), who begins his meeting very strongly.

Conversely, his teammate Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari) was guilty of feverishness on two occasions. The first time, getting angry for several seconds against Mick Schumacher (Haas), the latter having slowed him down in a flying lap. A few dozen minutes later, the Spaniard came close to disaster in the first sector. An attack that was a little too sharp with soft tires that were too fresh sent him into a spectacular 360 degree. His right front tire was in the trash due to a puncture.

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To Red Bull, everything is fine or almost. Max Verstappen (3rd) railed against the team because a mechanical problem prevented him from completing more laps than expected. His ex-teammate Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) signs a promising fifth time, four tenths behind. The seventh rank ofAlexander albon (Williams) is also a nice surprise.

On the other hand, the McLaren and Alpine appear in the middle of the table and even outside the top 10 for Fernando Alonso et Esteban Ocon.

Free Practice 2 will begin at 23:30 p.m. French time.

EL1 Miami 2022 ranking: