Charles Leclerc topped the sole practice session for the 2026 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix as F1 returned to action following a five-week break. In an extended 90-minute session, the Ferrari driver beat Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen by almost three tenths of a second, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri a further tenth back in third.
At the start of the session – lengthened in recognition of the gap, recently announced rule refinements, and the Sprint weekend format in play in Miami – there was plenty of action as drivers scrambled to get out on track to evaluate the many upgrades developed in preparation to what almost amounts to a reset following the opening three rounds of the season, in Australia, China and Japan.
But while most drivers pounded around the Miami International Autodrome, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll remained garage-bound, with the team reporting an issue with their Honda power units. On track, it was defending world champion Lando Norris who led the early laps for Mclaren, with the Briton lapping in just over 1m30s to top the table ahead of Verstappen and the Ferraris of Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. The Aston Martin drivers eventually appeared and ran largely trouble free until the end of the session as Honda monitored what it called “further countermeasures” to its early-season woes.
At the half an hour mark, championship leader Kimi Antonelli sat at the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:30.079 that put him clear of Leclerc, Norris, Verstappen and Hamilton. Antonelli’s team-mate George Russell was not faring as well, however, with the Briton complaining of handling issues and then suffering a lock-up that flat-spotted his front tyres.
As the session passed the hallway point Leclerc posted a lap of 1:29.855 oust Antonelli. The Ferrari driver used Hard tyres for the lap, with most of the front runners sticking with the C3 compound for the bulk of the session. The outliers were the Red Bull drivers, who spent most of the session on C4 Mediums.
Alonso and Stroll were the first drivers to take on the softest rubber and although their switch didn’t result in a massive leap forward it triggered a broader move to the red-banded tyres, and it was Leclerc who made the most of them, posting a session-best time of 1:29.310s. The Monegasque driver’s improvement put him 0.297 clear of Verstappen, with Piastri 0.448 off top spot.
There was trouble for Antonelli in the later stages of the session, however. The Italian teenager missed out on a Soft-tyre run as Mercedes investigated a power unit issue on his W17. That left him fifth ahead of Russell, who did manage to get in a Soft run.
Norris took P7 after abandoning his Soft run due to traffic. The champion finished ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and Williams’ Carlos Sainz.
2026 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Free Practice
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:29.310 41 218.152
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:29.607 0.297 40 217.429
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:29.758 0.448 35 217.063
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:29.777 0.467 35 217.017
5 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:30.079 0.769 24 216.290
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:30.100 0.790 33 216.239
7 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:30.208 0.898 34 215.980
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Mercedes 1:30.587 1.277 33 215.077
9 Isack Hadjar Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:30.873 1.563 39 214.400
10 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:30.930 1.620 36 214.265
11 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Mercedes 1:31.015 1.705 33 214.065
12 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:31.024 1.714 38 214.044
13 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:31.091 1.781 35 213.887
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:31.111 1.801 27 213.840
15 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:31.595 2.285 33 212.710
16 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:31.635 2.325 36 212.617
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 1:31.648 2.338 41 212.587
18 Sergio Perez Cadillac/Ferrari 1:32.047 2.737 25 211.665
19 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Honda 1:32.593 3.283 29 210.417
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac/Ferrari 1:32.762 3.452 33 210.034
21 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 1:32.862 3.552 41 209.808
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Honda 1:32.959 3.649 28 209.589