F1 Results Today: Lewis Hamilton suffers major blow as late crash brings…read more
F1 Results Today: Lewis Hamilton suffers major blow as late crash brings…read more
The first and only practice session of the Miami Grand Prix sprint weekend ended in dramatic fashion as Lewis Hamilton endured a difficult outing and a late crash brought the session to an abrupt close. Taking place at the Miami International Autodrome, the fourth edition of the event saw teams scramble to extract the maximum from the limited track time before sprint qualifying scheduled for later today, May 2, 2025.
The session was red-flagged just minutes before the scheduled end when Haas driver Oliver Bearman spun at Turn 12 and slammed into the barriers, causing significant damage to his car. The crash prematurely concluded FP1, depriving several drivers, including McLaren’s Lando Norris, of the chance to complete their flying laps. As a result, the practice classification did not reflect the full performance potential of several drivers.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri emerged as the fastest man of the session, clocking a best time of 1:27.128, placing him comfortably ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who trailed by 0.356 seconds. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the reigning four-time world champion, finished third, just 0.430 seconds off the pace.
Williams impressed with both cars inside the top five — Carlos Sainz securing fourth, 0.550 seconds down, while teammate Alex Albon took fifth, 0.827 seconds adrift. Rookie Isack Hadjar also turned heads with a strong sixth-place showing for Racing Bulls, edging out Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda. Kimi Antonelli, also driving for Mercedes, placed ninth, followed closely by veteran Fernando Alonso for Aston Martin in tenth.
British drivers had a day to forget. Norris, who was affected by a strange issue early in the session when a flashlight was mistakenly left in his cockpit, had to abort his early running. Although he returned to the track later, the red flag stopped him from improving, leaving him in P12. Making matters worse, the McLaren team has been summoned to the stewards to explain the unsafe release.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton fared no better. Driving for Ferrari, he ended the session in P13, continuing his rollercoaster 2025 campaign. Just two weeks ago in China, Hamilton clinched his first win for Ferrari in the sprint race. But the Miami weekend has started on a much more troubling note, with Hamilton unable to extract strong performance from his car in the limited session.
Further down the field were Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto for Kick Sauber, Oliver Bearman prior to his crash, and the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan. Lance Stroll brought up the rear for Aston Martin.
Despite the setbacks and incidents, action at the Miami Grand Prix continues with sprint qualifying set for 4:30 p.m. EDT later today. With just one practice session to work with, teams now face the challenge of getting their setups right in record time for a highly competitive sprint
format weekend.
