Miami Grand Prix FP1: Oscar Piastri tops sole free practice ahead of Charles Leclerc

Full Formula 1 2025 Miami Grand Prix FP1 Results – Oscar Piastri set the fastest lap in the single action-packed Free Practice 1 session ahead of Charles Leclerc.

Under the relentless Florida sun with track temperatures soaring above 50°C teams and drivers faced a compressed schedule due to the Sprint format, making every lap and every adjustment critical.

Current F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri delivered a commanding performance for McLaren, topping the Miami Grand Prix FP1 timesheets with a lap of 1:27.128.

Piastri’s pace was evident throughout the session and his ability to extract performance from the car in the closing stages, particularly on the soft compound tyres showcased both his growing confidence and the team’s technical prowess.

Piastri’s lap put him 0.356 seconds clear of his nearest rival Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, a significant margin given the competitive nature of the field and the limited running time available.

Leclerc’s best effort of 1:27.484 was enough to secure second place, demonstrating Ferrari’s continued competitiveness on street circuits. The Monesgaque spent much of the session fine-tuning his car’s balance, focusing on both short-run pace and tire management in the extreme heat.

Max Verstappen, fresh from celebrating the birth of his first child, returned to the cockpit of his upgraded Red Bull Racing RB21 and immediately made his presence felt.

The Dutchman’s session began with him topping the early timesheets as he evaluated a new floor on his car, a crucial upgrade aimed at regaining the edge in the tightly contested championship battle.

Verstappen ultimately finished third, 0.430 seconds adrift of Piastri but his run plan suggested that the Red Bull team was more focused on gathering long-run data and assessing their latest developments than on outright lap time.

Williams Racing emerged as one of the surprise packages of the session, with both Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon delivering standout performances. Sainz, now fully integrated into the Williams setup, posted a 1:27.678 to secure fourth place while Albon was close behind in fifth with a 1:27.955.

Isack Hadjar driving continued to impress in his rookie season with the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team by finishing sixth with a time of 1:27.968.

Hadjar’s ability to mix it with the established names highlighted both his talent and the underlying pace of the Racing Bulls package. His teammate Liam Lawson also performed solidly, ending the session in 11th place.

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Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team had a mixed Miami Grand Prix FP1 session, with George Russell and rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli finishing seventh and ninth, respectively.

Russell spent much of the early part of the session at the top of the timesheets, setting a benchmark lap on the medium compound tyres. However, as the field switched to softs for qualifying simulations, his position slipped though he remained within a second of Piastri’s best time.

Antonelli, meanwhile, continued his steady adaptation to Formula 1 completing 28 laps and finishing just behind Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull.

Fernando Alonso rounded out the top ten for Aston Martin with a time of 1:28.243. His teammate Lance Stroll had a more challenging session finishing twentieth and last, over two seconds off the pace.

McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton were notable absentees from the top ten, finishing 12th and 13th, respectively.

Both drivers saw their qualifying simulations disrupted by a late-session red flag brought out after Haas driver Oliver Bearman slid into the barriers with just four minutes remaining.

The incident curtailed running for several drivers preventing them from completing their planned soft tyre runs and skewing the final order. Norris and Hamilton’s positions were not fully representative of their true pace and both are expected to move up the order once they get a clean run in qualifying.

Sauber duo Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto finished 14th and 15th, respectively while Oliver Bearman despite causing the red flag managed to post the 16th fastest time. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan finished 17th and 19th, respectively.

F1 2025 Miami Grand Prix FP1 Results