MIAMI GP – George Russell fastest in second practice a tenth ahead of Charles Leclerc as Mercedes prove competitive
George Russell was fastest in second practice for this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver gave the team’s most competitive form of the season, going just over a tenth faster than the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
Mercedes had been hoping that the street circuit and the upgrade package could bring them back into contention this weekend as they need to make up ground on Ferrari and Red Bull if they are going to fight for the championship. Sergio Perez was third two tenths behind Russell, with Lewis Hamilton two-hundredths further behind in fourth.
The German manufacturer’s competitive showing following the difficult start to the season, could be for two reasons, the team’s upgrades have appeared to got on top of the porpoising issue, as well as the upgrades and low downforce and high-speed circuit which has appeared to have tackled the bouncing.
Russell said, “We don’t really understand it to be honest, why we hit the ground running. We always knew the conditions here would suit us better. We have been struggling with tyre warm-up even in Bahrain when the track was really rough. It has definitely been a really productive day for us and probably the most productive Friday we’ve had.”
Hamilton however appeared less comfortable, two tenths off Russell, but said there were “definitely positive elements.”
However, both Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz suffered with reliability, which allowed Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris to go fifth and sixth. Verstappen only manage one timed lap during the session, following the red flag the Dutchman struggled with the steering lock.
He slowly dragged his car back to the pits with what was later described as a hydraulic issue, his right-rear brakes caught fire and he did not return to the action. Hamilton meanwhile briefly went fastest midway through the session, with his first run on the soft tyres.
Looking at the long runs, Red Bull appeared to have the upper hand over both Mercedes and Ferrari.
Fernando Alonso put his Alpine fifth the two-time champion four-tenths off the pace, Alonso was a tenth and a half ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Both teams appear to be competitive this weekend, as they look to lead the midfield battle. Although the Alpha Tauri appeared competitive, Pierre Gasly was just over a hundredth behind in seventh.
Guanyu Zhou put his Alfa Romeo eighth going just a thousandth of a second faster than Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen, rounding out the top ten. Zhou’s teammate Valtteri Bottas didn’t take part in the session after he crashed in FP1.
Sainz’s reliability issues left him down in eleventh, a quarter of a second ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda. Sebastian Vettel ended his session fourteenth, though the four-time champion lost grip on the outside of Florida’s Turnpike running wide losing track position to Zhou.
Mick Schumacher put his Haas fifteenth, nearly a tenth behind Vettel. While his teammate Kevin Magnussen was nineteenth, the Dane had a similar incident to Bottas at Turn Seven, although coming in tighter and at lower speed meant he kept it out the wall.
Nicolas Latifi finished the session eighteenth the Williams driver being forced to stop at Marina (Turn Eight), after the team didn’t manage to attach the rear tyre correctly, bringing out the red flag. Vettel and Perez stuffed spins, Vettel’s spin coming after running off line while giving way to Zhou.
Verstappen’s reliability issues and Bottas’s FP1 crash meant neither driver set a time.