Mercedes’ Russell takes the lead in action-packed Miami practice session

George Russell has taken pole position in FP2, overtaking Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc who had previously topped the standings in the first-ever Miami Grand Prix practice session.

The Mercedes driver set the fastest lap time of 1m 29.938s, to edge ahead of Championship leader Leclerc, who finished 0.106s off the pace.

With track temperatures slightly dropping for the second practice session, drivers began the FP2 race on medium compounds and it was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who took the lead on those tyres with a time of 1m 31.463s.

The first piece of drama came when Sainz brought out the first red flag of the session with 40 minutes remaining, who spun and crashed entering the tight chicane on turn 14.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen showed clear signs he was struggling with his steering, and in the final sector – without setting a time – called it a day and returned to the pits with a hydraulics issue.

Russell shot to the top of the leaderboard in his upgraded W13 when the soft tyres came into play, recording a lap time of 1m 29.938s – 0.106s faster than FP1 leader Leclerc.

Perez finished third whilst Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton ended in P4, 0.241s behind teammate Russell.

Alpine’s Fernando Alonso looks to lead the midfield after wrapping up the top five, setting a time 0.434s slower than Russell in P1.

McLaren’s Lando Norris ended the day in sixth, 0.597s down on the leader, with AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly just behind in P7.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas sat out the session after his FP1 spin, but teammate Zhou Guanyu managed eighth, as Alpine’s Esteban Ocon as Haas’s Kevin Magnussen wrapped up the top ten.

Magnussen’s Haas teammate Mick Schumacher finished in 15th, seven-tenths behind Magnussen, with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel wedged in between the Haas drivers.

Lower down the pecking order, Lance Stroll managed P16 for Aston Martin after he avoided the slowing of Verstappen early on, ahead of Williams pair Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi, who finished 17th and 18th respectively.