F1 Miami

Sergio Perez headed final practice for Formula 1's first Miami Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, while Esteban Ocon crashed ...

As Verstappen was returning to the pits, Leclerc was beating Perez’s sector one time by 0.4s, but he lost all his advantage by the finish line to wind up 0.194s adrift, even as his late improvement meant he moved ahead of Verstappen in the final standings. But he did not stay top of long, as Verstappen’s purple sector one and personal best in the middle sector was enough to get him ahead of his team-mate with a 1m30.649s, even though he was slower than his own best final third on the mediums. That had Verstappen top by 0.050s over Perez, with Leclerc 0.332s behind in third, but after a trip through the pits Perez responded with purple sectors in the first and final thirds to move back ahead on a 1m30.304s just as the final five minutes arrived. After a slow cooldown lap nearly a minute off the pace, Leclerc went for another flier – setting a purple sector one before losing time in the middle segment and then clawing time back in the final third, but not enough to improve the top time as he ended up 0.053s slower than his personal best. He then pitted and the attention switched back to Red Bull, with Sergio Perez, who had also been doing high-fuel running during the early stages and so languishing in 18th, shooting ahead of Leclerc with a 1m30.699s as the session’s final 10 minutes began. The session started with track temperatures nearly hitting 50°C, a point which was reached and surpassed by FP3’s halfway point, and Verstappen led the field out of the pits – an atypical run plan for Red Bull in final practice, as the team usually leaves the garage late in FP3 to focus solely on qualifying preparation runs.