The 2024 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, round six of the season, got under way at the Miami International Autodrome in the early hours of 4 May Beijing time. With Miami running the Sprint format, Friday featured just one free practice session. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led with a 1:28.595, followed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, 0.105 seconds behind, and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in third.
Friday in Miami was sunny, with an air temperature of 29°C and a track temperature of 50°C, the hottest dry-track conditions of the season so far. Pirelli brought the second-hardest range of compounds, C2 to C4. Most teams began on hard or medium tyres while exploring their setup options, and almost half the drivers switched to softs late in the session.
Verstappen initially complained about handling problems over the radio and also locked up in the second half of a flying lap. Even so, he set the fastest time with a minute and a half remaining. The gap from Verstappen in first to Lando Norris in 16th was only 0.900 seconds, suggesting that the forthcoming Sprint qualifying session could be a battle decided by hundredths.
Ferrari ran a special blue-accented livery to mark 70 years in the North American market, incorporating blue into its car’s colours for the first time in 60 years. Sainz’s third place gave the blue-liveried Ferrari a respectable result, but Charles Leclerc spun through 180 degrees at Turn 16 six minutes into the session. His clutch overheated as he tried to rejoin, preventing him from restarting and bringing out the red flag. Leclerc’s session ended after only three laps, leaving him to approach Sprint qualifying without having completed a push lap.
Mercedes driver George Russell was fourth, followed by Lance Stroll fifth, Sergio Pérez sixth and Lewis Hamilton seventh. RB’s Yuki Tsunoda was eighth, 0.461 seconds behind Verstappen, and said he had identified part of the reason for his poor showing at the previous round in Shanghai. Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was 11th. After both cars had retired from the Chinese Grand Prix two weeks earlier, RB made a promising start towards making amends.
| Position | Driver | Team | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:28.595 | 25 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.105 | 24 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +0.116 | 24 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.189 | 26 |
| 5 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +0.222 | 25 |
| 6 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | +0.273 | 23 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.417 | 24 |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | +0.461 | 25 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +0.568 | 23 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +0.580 | 27 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | +0.583 | 27 |
| 12 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +0.594 | 26 |
| 13 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas | +0.719 | 25 |
| 14 | Alexander Albon | Williams | +0.798 | 24 |
| 15 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber | +0.850 | 24 |
| 16 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.900 | 21 |
| 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | +1.041 | 23 |
| 18 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | +1.296 | 23 |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +1.428 | 22 |
| 20 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +3.504 | 3 |
