Charles Leclerc tops Miami Grand Prix FP1 as Mercedes struggle with engine issues

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Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in the sole practice session for the Miami Grand Prix, which followed a five-week break after the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix.

Ahead of the weekend, the FIA confirmed that the only practice session at the Miami International Autodrome would last 90 minutes, in response to a number of significant changes introduced for the 2026 regulations.

Aston Martin were the only team not to declare any upgrades for the first race back, with the squad encountering early teething issues during practice, with team members seen wearing protective rubber gloves, suggesting the cars were not electrically safe.

As a result, the Silverstone-based squad missed a significant portion of the early running in practice, while the rest of the grid made full use of the extra time to gather valuable data from their upgrades. After 30 minutes, both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll made their way out onto the circuit, opting for hard tyres as they got to grips with the track.

Aston Martin are the only team without any upgrades at the Miami Grand Prix 👀 Predict the F1 pecking order after the race…

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Red Bull unveiled their version of the so-called ‘Macarena wing’ during practice, with a similar concept that was previously seen on the Ferrari earlier in the year. Footage showed that even when closed, a slight gap remained, potentially indicating either a design quirk or an intentional feature.

The team have brought seven upgrades this weekend, including extensive changes to the floor and rear brakes, with Isack Hadjar sounding confident that it could give the team more pace than the previous three weekends.

Early in the session, George Russell reported an issue with the turbo on his Mercedes, telling his race engineers it was “making a lot of noises”. The team quickly brought him back into the garage but wasted little time in sending the Brit back out on track, although he found himself in P15.

A cut to his onboard after 30 minutes highlighted the unusual sounds coming from the Mercedes, with Russell sitting almost a full second behind Kimi Antonelli at the top of the timesheets.

At the halfway mark of the session, Charles Leclerc led the way with a 1:29.855, sitting two-tenths of a second clear of Kimi Antonelli, who had split the Ferraris. Lando Norris briefly moved up to second despite a mistake at the final corner, but was later shuffled down to fourth, just ahead of Max Verstappen as the Ferraris completed their runs.

Grip proved difficult, with many drivers struggling with oversteer through the final corner and onto the main straight. Despite frequent lock-ups in the early stages, the track surface evolved quickly, allowing drivers to reduce their mistakes.

Aston Martin were the first to bolt on the soft tyres whilst grip was at a premium, although early laps saw them remain in P18 and P19 respectively. Stroll caused multiple controversial moves in quick succession, with Antonelli catching the Aston Martin weaving, before the Canadian braked suddenly in front of Sergio Perez just a few laps later.

Both Red Bull drivers complained about downshift issues, which were causing rear instability. Despite voicing his frustrations with the RB22, Verstappen managed to remain in fifth fastest with 30 minutes to go, while Hadjar sat down in 10th.

Alpine, meanwhile, appeared to have taken a step forward over the break, with both Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto comfortably inside the top 10, just behind the leading four teams.

In the latter stages of the session, Oscar Piastri reported smelling smoke in the cockpit, with McLaren later confirming it had originated from the brakes when he returned to the pit lane.

The high temperatures, the hottest seen so far this season, also appeared to expose potential reliability concerns with the Mercedes power unit, as Alex Albon reported smoke shortly after Piastri.

In the closing minutes of the session, cars returned to the track on the C5 soft tyres as they prepared for flying laps ahead of Sprint Qualifying later in the day. Verstappen briefly went fastest, before Leclerc edged ahead of the Red Bull by three tenths of a second.

Hamilton looked set to challenge his Ferrari teammate on his flying lap after setting a purple first sector, but the Brit ran wide at Turn 17, forcing him to salvage the lap through the final corners.

Norris then emerged as the next contender for top spot, but was held up by Albon’s Williams at the end of the back straight, which pushed him wide and compromised his effort.

Mercedes appeared to be struggling with power unit issues, leaving George Russell down in sixth after his soft-tyre run. Shots in the closing minutes showed Antonelli standing in the garage in discussion with team principal Toto Wolff, with the team confirming the issue could not be resolved before the end of the session.

As a result, Antonelli was unable to complete any laps on the soft tyres or carry out a valuable practice start, particularly significant given it was the only practice session of the weekend.

Full results for Miami Grand Prix FP1

Charles Leclerc topped the timings for the only practice session at the 2026 Miami Grand Prix, leading from Max Verstappen by almost three tenths of a second.