After a first free session dominated by Charles Leclerc ahead of Georges Russell and Max Verstappen, F1 resumed its rights for Free Practice 2 of the Miami Grand Prix. Red Bull revealed that an overheating problem had been a problem on Verstappen’s RB18 in FP1, and the team was still hard at work at the start of FP2.
Alpine F1 was reprimanded for performing an unsafe release ahead of Russell in the first session. As for Alfa Romeo, Valtteri Bottas’ car was completely dismantled after the Finn’s accident at the start of the day.
From the start of the session, Carlos Sainz took the best time in 1’30″964, with medium tyres. Unfortunately, the Ferrari driver made a mistake and lost control of his F1-75 in the winding sector. After a spin, he hit the wall with his left side, tearing off the two wheels.
The session was interrupted for several minutes. When it resumed, Verstappen was finally able to get back on track, but he didn’t have time to set a time before his RB18 started acting up again.
The Dutchman received the instruction on the radio to put a failure mode, Fail 1, and he lost the direction of his single-seater. This apparent hydraulic problem caused the right rear brake to overheat, and he had to pit at idle.
During this slow lap, he had a few scares, especially with Lance Stroll coming flat out behind him in a blind corner. But he was finally able to reach his garage.
Russell then took the lead with a time of 1’29″938, ahead of Leclerc and Sergio Pérez. Lewis Hamilton was 0″241 ahead of Fernando Alonso, who gave Alpine F1 some color after a difficult morning session.
The second part of the session was intended for long stints in preparation for Sunday’s race, but less than a quarter of an hour from the checkered flag, the red flag was raised again after a mechanical failure on the Williams by Nicholas Latifi.
At the end of the session, the porpoising that we had not seen on the Mercedes at the start of the session returned, and Russell confirmed on the radio that the medium tires worsened this phenomenon.
Red Bull failed to restart Verstappen’s RB18, so the world champion will have completed a total of 15 laps on the day. The team will have to rely on Pérez’s data to work for FP3 and qualifying, just as Ferrari will have to rely on Leclerc’s.
Kevin Magnussen made a mistake in turn 8, like Bottas in the first session, but the Haas F1 driver didn’t touch anything and was able to get back on track to pit in the last minute of the session. Sebastian Vettel also spun.
In any case, it was Russell who finished in the lead ahead of Leclerc and Pérez, then Hamilton and Alonso. Lando Norris is sixth ahead of Pierre Gasly, Guanyu Zhou, Esteban Ocon and Magnussen. There are eight teams in the top 10.
Sainz is 11th ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, Vettel, Mick Schumacher, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi, while Verstappen and Bottas have no lap times.
| Pos. | Pilot | Car | Temps | Tours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | George Russell | Mercedes W13 | 1:29.938 | 18 |
| 02 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari F1-75 | 1:30.044 | 21 |
| 03 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull RBPT RB18 | 1:30.150 | 19 |
| 04 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes W13 | 1:30.179 | 18 |
| 05 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine Renault A522 | 1:30.372 | 20 |
| 06 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes MCL36 | 1:30.535 | 20 |
| 07 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri RBPT AT03 | 1:30.547 | 20 |
| 08 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo Ferrari C42 | 1:30.860 | 24 |
| 09 | Stephen Ocon | Alpine Renault A522 | 1:30.861 | 20 |
| 10 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari VF-22 | 1:30.921 | 19 |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari F1-75 | 1:30.964 | 9 |
| 12 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren Mercedes MCL36 | 1:31.200 | 23 |
| 13 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri RBPT AT03 | 1:31.260 | 23 |
| 14 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin Mercedes AMR22 | 1:31.393 | 23 |
| 15 | Mick Schumacher | Haas Ferrari VF-22 | 1:31.587 | 21 |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Mercedes AMR22 | 1:31.631 | 23 |
| 17 | Alex Albon | Williams Mercedes FW44 | 1:31.710 | 21 |
| 18 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams Mercedes FW44 | 1:32.913 | 14 |
| 19 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull RBPT RB18 | – :—.— | 1 |
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo Ferrari C42 | – :—.— | 0 |