Max Verstappen fastest in only Miami practice as Charles Leclerc stops

Max Verstappen set the pace in the only practice session at the F1 Miami Grand Prix as Charles Leclerc stopped on track following a spin.

Despite being unhappy for much of FP1 and struggling for grip, the reigning world champion put his Red Bull top of the timesheet amid a late flurry of laps on the soft tyres.

• 2024 F1 Miami Grand Prix - Friday Practice Results

Verstappen ended up 0.105 seconds clear of Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, while Carlos Sainz was third in his Ferrari.

Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc has been left on the back foot heading into sprint qualifying after he spun and became stranded in the middle of the track on just his third lap of practice.

Leclerc spun his Ferrari around coming out of Turn 16 and was unable to get his car facing in the right direction after his clutch overheated, an issue which prevented the Monegasque from taking any further part in the session.

George Russell was fourth fastest for Mercedes, ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and teammate Lewis Hamilton, who was seventh.

RB’s Yuki Tsunoda was eighth-quickest despite only running mediums, ahead of the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly who completed the rest of the top-10.

Mercedes and McLaren have both brought significant upgrades in Miami.

Lando Norris - who is the only McLaren driver to have the full package on his car this weekend - was only 16th after battling steering issues.

The start of the weekend has been dominated by the news of Adrian Newey’s departure from Red Bull.

Sprint qualifying takes place at 9.30pm UK time.