Miami, CMC, Mercedes claimed a stunning one-two finish in the opening practice session on Friday for the Miami Grand Prix in the United States.
George Russell showed late pace and pumped in a time of one minute, 30.125 seconds in the closing stages of the session to finish 0.212 secs faster than seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
“For sure, part of the reason we’re up there is that we were the last car on track, doing new tires – they got clean laps,” Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said.
“But we’ve had races this year where no matter what we did, we could never get up near the top of the timesheet, so I think it’s encouraging, but one to keep in perspective.”
Charles Leclerc finished third in the upgraded Ferrari, three-tenths off Russell with his final lap, and championship leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull had to settle for the fourth, having led most of the session until the late runs from the Mercedes.
Under the sweltering Florida heat, with temperatures rising to 51 degrees Celsius, the drivers filed out onto the Miami International Autodrome, looking to come to grips with the resurfaced circuit. Verstappen set the early pace on the hard tires ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton.
While Hamilton was turning in the laps, Russell returned to the pit lane after complaining of vibrations on his steering wheel, with his Mercedes mechanics forced to change the steering rack.
Following the early runs on the complex and medium tires, the drivers switched to the softer rubber, with Verstappen going quickest with a time of 1 min, 31.054 secs, a little before a red flag was waved after Nico Hulkenberg, who was at the time second fastest, crashed into the barrier at Turn 3.
When the Haas was cleared from the track, the session resumed with the Mercedes pair leaving it late to set the fastest times on the soft tires.
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