Formula 1: Mercedes duo Russell and Hamilton progress in Miami training

George Russell took the lead on Friday with a lap of 1:30.125 minutes ahead of his British team-mate Lewis Hamilton. The record world champion was 0.212 seconds behind, followed by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and world championship leader Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. The Dutchman was four tenths of a second behind Russell.

However, the world champion drove on hard tires in his last stint – in contrast to the competition, who relied on soft tires and thus had a clear advantage at the end of the session. Before that, a Verstappen lap had been at the top of the timesheets for a long time. Russell had to take a longer break from the one-hour session due to problems with the handlebars. According to Mercedes, a new steering rod was initially installed for test purposes, but it had to be replaced with the old specification because it was too heavy.

The Mexican Sergio Perez, who last won in Baku, did not get past eleventh place in the second Red Bull. In the World Cup standings, the 33-year-old is six points behind Verstappen, who was victorious at the Miami premiere last year.

For Nico Hülkenberg, training was over after just over half an hour. The German lost control of his Haas racer, spun and crashed into the track wall. After that the session was interrupted by red flags. Hulkenberg was not injured, he left his car without any problems. In the end he finished ninth.