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Formula 1 Miami GP

F1 Miami GP Live Commentary and Updates – FP3 & Qualifying

Saturday's action from the fifth round of the 2023 Formula 1 season

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR23, Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL60, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23

Max Verstappen topped Friday practice in Miami, as F1 completes a double-header following last weekend’s Azerbaijan GP where Sergio Perez took both sprint and grand prix race wins.

The weekend returns to its usual format in the US, with two free practice sessions on Friday, FP3 and qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday.

FP3 starts at 5.30pm BST on Saturday, with qualifying getting under way at 9pm.

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For all that this is only the second F1 race in Miami, bobble-hatters amongst you will of course recall that the Grand Prix of Miami was a fixture on the IMSA schedule in the 1980s into the early '90s. Geoff Brabham was a four-time winner with Nissan - wonder if he's in the paddock this weekend?
Your usual weather update: air temperature is 28.7 °C, with track temps of 47.1 °C. If you're in any doubt about the conditions, humidity is 57%. And there's also a 30% risk of rain to keep teams on their toes...
In that tightly-bunched FP3 midfield pack behind the Red Bulls and Ferraris, headed by the two Alpines, we also had Alfa, Haas, Williams, Mercedes and Aston. A real jumbled pack, with only McLaren and AlphaTauri left on the outside looking in. The question, as ever, is how representative will that be of qualifying?
Especially fascinating in FP3 earlier, and befitting of this season's trend, was the tight midfield fight as fifth-placed Esteban Ocon was just 0.316s ahead of Lance Stroll in 14th. That's more than the gap between Verstappen and Leclerc was! It suggests a superb fight in Q2 is in the offing.
One team that won't want to see a repeat of FP3 is McLaren. It ended up P18 and P19 with Oscar Piastri just ahead of Lando Norris, both over 1.8s off the pace. Can the Papaya cars launch a qualifying recovery?
One significant and perhaps obvious opponent he'll have to face off against is defending race winner Max Verstappen, who was fastest in both yesterday's FP2 and FP3 earlier on. His 1m27.535s lap from FP3 is the fastest of the weekend so far, and clearly under Leclerc's pole lap last year.
Wind the clock back a year to the inaugural Miami GP and it was a front row lockout for Ferrari headed by Charles Leclerc. After his Baku qualifying heroics last weekend, can the Monegasque repeat the feat?
Welcome back! We're 20 minutes away from qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix. Time to get settled into your comfiest armchair and get your predictions in for post-Q3 smugness.
And with that it is time for a quick breather before today's main event: Miami GP qualifying. We'll be back shortly before 9pm BST for all the build-up on the 'how will the grid line up behind polesitter Verstappen' show.
Here's the full report on FP3:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-miami-gp-verstappen-tops-fp3-from-leclerc/10466059/

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

There appears to be three 'classes' in Miami this weekend. Verstappen class, Ferrari/Perez class, then the rest of F1 class. There's a bigger gap between first and second than there is between fifth and 14th!
Anyway, that brings an end to final practice as the chequered flag comes out. Verstappen tops FP3 from Leclerc.
The strangest fan sign of the year goes to a lady in Miami who held up a sign that read: "Lando I would change my dad to take a picture with you." Please send answers.

Leclerc makes sure the Red Bull domination doesn't last, as he splits the pair once again to take second with a 1m27.941s. Still, some 0.406s off Verstappen. Which is a lot.

Perez pumps in a 1m28.050s to restore a Red Bull 1-2, but he is still half a second off Verstappen.
Mind you, a penny for the thoughts down at AlphaTauri, with de Vries in 19th and Tsunoda in last place, having just complained about understeer in true Yuki style.
Norris locks up into Turn 1 and smokes his soft tyres. It hasn't been a session to celebrate for McLaren, with Norris 18th and Piastri in 17th.
Verstappen chips away at his overall best lap time again, a 1m27.535s, just to remind everyone of his advantage. Going on the practice pace, it is hard to see anyone challenging Verstappen for pole later on.
"I cannot get through Turn 2, there is so much hopping," Russell complains over team radio. Is he driving a Mercedes or riding on a rabbit?
Bottas goes fifth fastest for Alfa Romeo and Albon slots into sixth place. You won't be able to take your eyes off qualifying with lap times tumbling all the time.
Verstappen underlines the increased speeds with a 1m27.595s to restore his half a second advantage on his nearest rivals.
Gasly has quietly gone about putting in an impressive lap to go fourth quickest, with Russell slotting into fifth for Mercedes. This track is ramping up and fast.
Woah, that was a close one! Norris, slightly disturbed by an Alpine, slides going through Turn 4 and has to take to the run-off and catch the car.
"We seem to be losing a lot more on the straights," Hamilton says over team radio.
Hamilton puts in a 1m28.724s to jump up to fifth, which will give some encouragement to Mercedes. The bigger worry is he is still one second off Verstappen's pace. The Mercedes just lacks pace, by the looks of it.
"Lots of vibrations through the steering wrack at high speeds," Russell reports. That's been a continual problem for both Mercedes drivers this weekend.
Perez's effort to respond to Verstappen puts him half a second off, a 1m28.1932s placing him only third, with Sainz keeping ahead in second.
Lots of drivers are in the garages undergoing set-up tweaks and Hulkenberg makes the most of the clear track to post a lap good enough for fifth place.
Verstappen has wound-up the motor in his Red Bull and lays down another 'beat that' lap. His 1m27.669s is a new fastest lap of the weekend.
"The grip is picking up on the track massively," Ocon reports. As expected, lap times will tumble as the session progresses.
Alonso locks up heavily at the end of the back straight and eats a chunk of his soft tyres in the run-off. Then moments later Hulkenberg avoids his second shunt of the weekend as he catches a slide at Turn 7.
Sainz goes second quickest, cutting the gap to Verstappen down to one-tenth of a second.
Albon asks for his team to remind him to make the right switch changes on his Williams steering wheel after his Turn 17 diversion. Williams needs to install a sat-nav.
A yellow flag is shown down at Turn 17 as Albon goes off track and rejoins. He did the same thing in practice yesterday, struggling to get his Williams stopped on the long back straight.
In a repeat of earlier in the session, Leclerc splits the Red Bulls to go second but is still a considerable 0.6s off Verstappen.
It must be bring a billionaire to work day, as Jeff Bezos is being shown how the pitwall works by Zak Brown at McLaren.
Verstappen puts in another statement lap to regain top spot with a 1m27.969s - to go a full 0.672s quicker than Perez. That's a big gap.

By: Autosport Staff

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