Miami Grand Prix practice report: Ferrari sitting pretty whilst Mercedes suffer early stumbles

By Max Drinkwater

Formula 1 returned from an enforced break at the Miami international autodrome for round four of the 2026 season.

With a raft of technical changes heading into the weekend, the sole practice session was more vital than ever before as the grid heads into sprint qualifying.

The session reflected the sports hiatus with a raft of mistakes from a number of drivers locking up and running wide especially into Miami’s infamous turn 14 and 15 chicane.

The field was fronted by the prancing horse of Charles Leclerc who clocked a lap time of 1:29:310 just shy of three tenths quicker than the Macarena winged Red Bull of Max Verstappen who looked strong with their new developments.

Oscar Piastri rounded out the top three in his MCL40 who is looking to get his title charge back on track after a slower start to the season than the Aussie would’ve hoped.

The other Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton finished the session 4th ahead of both Mercedes who struggled in the sunshine state, both cars looking far from their front running best with Russell having power unit issues during the session.

Lando Norris clocked a lap time good enough for seventh followed by Frenchmen Pierre Gasly and Isack Hadjar, the latter finishing the session 1.2 seconds behind teammate Verstappen.

Carlos Sainz and his Williams have endured a rough beginning to 2026, the Spaniard scoring just 2 points in the opening three rounds ended the sole practice runs in tenth place ahead of Franco Colapinto in eleventh.

Alex Albon finished just shy of his teammate in twelfth and ahead of Brit Ollie Bearman who is looking to bounce back after a huge incident at the Japanese grand prix last time out.

The two Audis were lead by Gabriel Bortoleto in fourteenth and Nico Hulkenberg followed in suit. Audi with a personnel shake up over the break with Allan McNish stepping into the role of Racing Director for the German outfit.

Liam Lawson in his striking VCARB followed Esteban Ocon in the standings, the Frenchmen looking off the pace of his younger teammate early on ending the session half a second behind.

Sergio Perez returned to the Miami Grand Prix with his new Cadillac team and rounded off the session in eighteenth ahead of the ever struggling Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.

Valtteri Bottas finished up in twentieth ahead of Arvid Linblad and Lance Stroll who continues his season woes with another P22 finish to a session.

The grid heads back into action this evening with sprint qualifying getting under way later today.