Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe
Live text
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.

Live Text

Sort by
Stopwatch
Perez ups the ante with a 1m28.641s to go top, as Alonso slots into third using the medium tyres.
There has been no sign of Williams, Haas and McLaren in the opening 15 minutes of FP3. Still at the beach?
The same cannot be said of Mercedes. They are better than yesterday, but Russell is only fifth fastest and 0.6s off the pace of Verstappen, while Hamilton locked up to wreck his lap.
Leclerc splits the Red Bulls and just misses out on top spot by 0.094s on the softs. The Ferrari has impressive single lap speed, so it looks like it'll be super close in qualifying later today.
Stopwatch
Verstappen completes his customary fastest of anyone opening lap, a 1m28.963s, to put a 0.3s gap over Red Bull team-mate Perez.
Stopwatch
Gasly leads the charge for Team France, more commonly known as Alpine, with a 1m30.299s. But the Red Bulls are out on track and moving very quickly.
Stopwatch
Sainz goes top with a 1m30.748s on the softs - still some 2.7s off the outright pace seen yesterday.
Hamilton called Mercedes' dip in pace a "kick in the gut" yesterday and after a few lock ups in a messy lap, whatever they've changed hasn't appeared to have worked.
Both Astons and Ferraris are on track along with Ocon and Hamilton, as the French driver posts a 1m31.125s to kick things off.
Quote
"Front tyres are vibrating already," Hamilton reports on team radio during his out-lap.
Chief of the blue bird social media site Elon Musk has his beak in the Red Bull garage. I wonder if anyone has asked for their blue tick back?
Ocon is the first taker in his Alpine, nipping out on mediums, which is unusual given the start of final practice is usually a mundane affair.
Green flag
Here we go! Final practice is green!
Miami's track acronym MIA feels unfortunate if Sunday's race is a snoozefest. Let's hope it isn't forecasting the rest of the weekend.
Red Bull remains the frontrunners to catch, so the pressure is on Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin to get the set-up nailed in this session ahead of qualifying. The drivers are on their way to the garages.
Sun
Weather conditions, for now, look much more overcast than yesterday, but it is still dry and hot. And what's worse for the drivers is that the humidity is creeping up. Sticky.
The other key talking point from Friday practice was how slippery the resurfaced Miami track is, which caught a lot of drivers out. It will be intriguing to see how it rubbers in and develops in FP3 and qualifying.
Breaking news
There was plenty of track action yesterday, but a pair of red flags disrupted the usual flow of Friday practice. Here are the key takeaways from FP1 and FP2:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/what-we-learned-from-friday-practice-at-f1s-2023-miami-gp/10465780/
Green flag
Hello one and all once again! We are not far from the start of final practice at the Miami GP.

By: Autosport Staff

Published: