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Formula 1 Miami GP

F1 Miami GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race day

Minute-by-minute updates for F1's Miami Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT03 George Russell, Mercedes W13

Charles Leclerc starts on pole position for the inaugural Miami GP ahead of Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, with reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen in third.

The Miami GP gets underway at 8.30pm BST (3.30pm local time).

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It isn't how anyone expected it, but that has totally shaken up this race. There's still debris on track at the exit of Turn 7, so this safety car period will continue for a while yet.
That's put Perez in a nice spot, he'll be on the Ferrari drivers' tail with newer, faster tyres. Think Ferrari's missed a trick here.
Meanwhile Alonso has been given a five-second penalty for causing his clash with Gasly.
So Russell took a cheap stop under the VSC, emerging in seventh, as Perez stops from fourth place and remains as such with medium tyres.
Oh, that was messy. Gasly was running slowly around Turn 7, potentially with damage after earlier contact with Alonso, and barges into Norris which destroys his right-rear tyre. Now the full safety car is out.
Norris and Gasly have clashed! The McLaren driver has suffered damage and is out of this race! Virtual Safety Car!
Alonso goes ambitious into Turn 1 trying to dive up the inside of Gasly but locks up and the pair bash wheels. "I think he closed the door at the last minute," is Alonso's defence over team radio.
Is rain on the way? That'd spice up this relatively tepid race with 18 laps to go.
"Why don't we just keep going and see if there's a VSC or safety car?" Russell asks, happy to keep going on his hard tyres. It's hard to see where that's going to come from, it doesn't feel very safety car-y right now.
Vettel locks up at Turn 7 and runs wide, giving a freebie overtake to Norris, treating the fans at the fake marina to some real action.
Magnussen runs wide at Turn 17 which allows team-mate Schumacher to nip through - was that a deliberate team move? It looked like it.
Snark aside, Leclerc drops a 1m32.366s to cut the gap down again - so that's added some degree of jeopardy into the fight. Sort of.
The Haas vs Vettel battle has allowed Stroll to scamper up the road by four seconds, while Norris has tagged into DRS range of Vettel.
Gap in the lead is now up to 8s as Verstappen punches in a 1m32.742s. Good to see Miami offering a wildly difficult spectacle.
Vettel has had a nightmare of a lap and has lost places to both Haas drivers. Arguably this is the battle of the race, even if it is only for 12th place.
Ricciardo finally pits on lap 31 to ditch his mediums for hards and comes out in 17th place.
Vettel bites back at Magnussen to regain 13th place place. The Dane got poor drive out of Turn 16 and that allowed Vettel to reel him in and dive up the inside at Turn 17.
It's a 1m32.779s for Verstappen on lap 30 - he's 7.7s up on Leclerc.  So, bit of a foregone conclusion at this stage - the front pack are very spread out.
Ricciardo is the only driver who started on the mediums and is yet to pit, which partly explains his climb to eighth place currently. Is he hoping for a safety car so he can make a cheap pitstop?
Magnussen has got ahead of Vettel to take 13th place and now he is going after Stroll. The Aston Martins are the jokers in the pack with both drivers yet to pit having started on the hards from the pitlane.
It's as you were in the top four: Verstappen leads from Leclerc at the start of lap 29, from Sainz and Perez. Russell is fifth, but he's yet to stop as Bottas is sixth - still ahead of Hamilton.
Sainz is in for his stop, also taking hard tyres - but it's slow! He ships 2s in the pits to Perez as Ferrari has a bit of finger trouble in the pits with the front-right wheel nut.
It is turning into a tough race for Tsunoda and Latifi at the back of the field, both running well off the pace of the rest.
Leclerc, meanwhile, is 6s off Verstappen after their opening stops, but he's just done a 1m33.054s to close in.
Verstappen duly pits for hard tyres at the end of lap 26, trading medium tyres for hards with a swift stop at Red Bull. He emerges in P2 for now, ahead of Perez, as Sainz is yet to stop.
Leclerc emerges in fourth place, ahead of Valtteri Bottas. Red Bull sees no reason to react to Leclerc's movements just yet.
Alonso, in 11th, is leading a DRS train ahead of the pitlane-starting Astons of Stroll and Vettel and then Haas pair Magnussen and Schumacher. It is leaving them all stuck in position.
It's pit o'clock for Leclerc, who calls in at the end of lap 24 to stick on the hard tyre after complaining that the car was "difficult to drive".
Leclerc isn't quite done yet - it's a 1m33.141s to now take the fastest lap honours.
Hamilton, meanwhile, pits for hard tyres from sixth place - and rejoins in seventh ahead of Ricciardo.
Verstappen's doing all he can to clock off early, posting a 1m33.193s on the 22nd lap to extend his lead. He's looking unflappable out in front.
Magnussen's lap is an eventful one as he catches a slide at Turn 17 but it means he loses a chunk of time chasing after Vettel.
Magnussen shows his front wing around the outside of Vettel at Turn 11 but on the switch back for Turn 12 he runs wide and backs out of the move.
"Fail five-zero," Perez's engineer Hugh Bird reports. Sensor issue for Perez, quick switch-off for that and the Mexican driver is up and running again.
Norris is struggling on his hard tyres, as he goes deep at Turn 17 and is overtaken by Schumacher.
Perez complains he's losing a lot of power, losing a ton of time to Sainz. Red Bull says it looks okay, but Perez vehemently disagrees with the team's assessment.
Norris is the next to pit, a tardy 3.6s stop, and at pit exit he loses places to Vettel and Magnussen on his cold tyres.
Gasly pitted a lap after Alonso to cover the undercut attempt, but due to the Alpine driver's slow stop Gasly is now 4.4s up the road.
Leclerc's chipped away at Verstappen on each of the last two laps - only a couple of tenths here and there, but he's keeping tabs on the leader.
Latifi is getting rather swamped, this time by the Haas pair on fresh tyres, as Magnussen and Schumacher overtake him in quick succession to push the Canadian back to 17th.

By: autosport.com

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