VT2 Miami result: Drama for Verstappen, Russell surprisingly fastest at Mercedes

The first day of our first weekend in Miami is over. On the circuit around Hard Rock Stadium, the fastest time in practice two was set by George Russell. Behind that, Charles Leclerc was the second fastest in second practice. The third time was for no less than Sergio Perez.

The second training session in Miami was marked by many great moments. The track was fairly busy at the start of the session. Nicholas Latifi was the first to walk the road, and soon several of his colleagues walked out. However, Mercedes and Red Bulls remained in the penalty area for about ten minutes. However, the specter of bad luck visited Ferrari first.

Sains

Carlos Sainz got on the track early and was the first player to excel with fast times. However, he made a painful mistake that made him spin in the narrow third sector. He lunged hard to climb up and a red flag appeared. It was a huge disappointment and the Spaniard broke things again. This gave the other teams a chance to quietly review plans for the rest of the session in the garages.

Verstappen

However, there was no time to rest at Red Bull Racing. Max Verstappen had some problems in first practice so it was decided to change the gearbox as a precaution. This intervention obviously took a while and Verstappen missed half of the training. Half an hour later, he finally made it to the ring, but the joy was short-lived. Almost immediately he reported on the onboard radio with a distressing message, and he could hardly turn the steering wheel.

Verstappen had to continue his way, struggling with his steering wheel, into the pits at a snail’s pace. On the way, she almost went wrong and Lance Stroll almost crashed into a creepy Red Bull. Verstappen’s rear brake also started to smoke, then burn, and once it got into the potholes, it was clearly a problem. Verstappen stayed in his car, but was never seen again on the track.

mercedes

At Miami Gardens, Verstappen’s teammates were now busy setting fast times. Remarkably, it wasn’t Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who set the fastest time. Mercedes seems to have found a solution to the problems and George Russell was the fastest. His teammate Lewis Hamilton also made a good showing and set the fourth fastest time on the all-new track.

chaotic

The end of training was chaotic again the old fashioned way. Latifi reported that he panicked at the onboard radio, and Canadian driver Williams suspected a problem. His fears became reality and the Canadian had to park his car next to the track. The red flag was raised again and the remaining drivers still had a few minutes in the final stage. Kevin Magnussen and Sebastian Vettel were still spinning before waving the checkered flag in Miami.