two mercedes George Russell And Lewis Hamilton led the first free app session. Miami Grand Prix, Round five of the 2023 calendar, George Russell lost several minutes in the penalty area due to a technical problem, but set the fastest lap (1.30.125), two-tenths ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Russell warned the Mercedes wall as soon as he hit the track:I have vibrations. Can you change the settings for me?”, asked. After getting a negative response from his team, he insisted: “Even if you spare half an hour?” He eventually made it back to the garage, and after deciding that the problem was with the tires, his engineers set to work replacing the W14’s steering box.

At the same time, teammate Lewis Hamilton marked the second best time to start, despite being more than half behind World Championship leader Max Verstappen, who started ahead (131:826) on the circuit around Hard Rock. Red Bull’s wheel.

Ferrari premiered various aerodynamic improvements and a modified flat sole in Miami. as well as a new version of the single-column wing. Marc Gené confirmed that the background was mounted on Charles Leclerc’s car during the first session to compare it to the previous car that Charles Leclerc had driven. Carlos Sainz and in the afternoon, in the second batch, the man from Madrid is expected to test the Scuderia’s great innovation.

Hulkenberg accident

Verstappen shortened the time by riding the soft Pirelli for the first time (1,31,054) before Nico Hülkenberg, who crashed at high speed at Turn 3, smashed his Haas and set off the weekend’s first red flag. 25 minutes left.

The first free tests in Miami continued with 15 minutes to go, with two Red Bulls being the fastest on the track, but two Ferraris and one from Sainz and Leclerc. Fernando Alonso Coming to Florida with some innovations in its Aston Martin, which is sure to be its natural ally for the weekend, with high temperatures and therefore further deterioration.

Russell and Hamilton took advantage of the progress on the track to close the morning ahead of Hamilton, Leclerc and Verstappen; Sainz completed the ‘top five’ and Alonso temporarily finished seventh, one second behind.

Although forecasts for Sunday point to a 60% chance of rain, there is little result at the end of a session in warm conditions and clear skies. You can follow FP2 live on the SPORT website and DAZN platform, which will start at 23:30 in Spain.