FP1 Highlights | 2025 Miami Grand Prix

First practice ahead of the 2025 Miami Grand Prix and the second sprint weekend of the season allowed drivers just 60 minutes of running before the afternoon sprint qualify. Haas' impressive start to the 2025 season has seen them climb to sixth place in the constructors' standings, just five points behind Williams in fifth. The American outfit head to the first of three home Grand Prix, hoping their pace from Saudi Arabia wasn't a sign of things to come. Unfortunately for Oli Behrmann, his session came to a premature end. The Haas working okay, he was on a tidy lap but then it just let go. That rear coming through the 180 degrees at turn 12, so easy just to slide, just roll into an oversteer and then the barriers greet you far quicker than you'd ever imagine at the low speed. Oh man, sorry. It's okay, are you okay? Yeah, I'm fine, just sorry. A number of teams brought updated liveries to the streets of Miami and it was Racing Bull's bright pink design that stole the show. Elsewhere, Salva elected to pay homage to Miami's vibrant art scene and Ferrari added a splash of blue to their prancing horses. It wasn't just the liveries that dazzled in the Florida sun, Lando Norris' disco helmet design ensured he wouldn't be missed out on track. 12 months on from his debut Formula One win, Norris admitted his rocky start to the 2025 season had left him searching for answers ahead of his return to Miami. The Briton slipped to 10 points behind McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the Drivers' Championship and hoped to return to the Sunshine State would get his season back on track. But moments into FP1, the Englishman was forced to return to the pits. Yeah, there's just, you've left like so many tools in the cockpit. Everything's just falling apart. I've got to box this lap. You don't want that going around the pedals either, do you? The pedal box down there, brake and your throttle, your accelerator, just two pedals, but you don't want having some big object there messing with the infrastructure. Once back on track, Norris was involved in a hairy moment with Esteban Ocon. The closing speed there was just immense. You can see Ocon checking the right mirror and then he moves to the left just as Norris is going to commit down the inside of him. I mean, it's a pretty bad case of impeding there. Teammate Piastri narrowly avoided disaster, flirting with the barriers on the exit of Turn 16 in the final 10 minutes of the session. Just checked the right-hand side and still looking for the wall. The Aussie brushed aside the moment to claim the session's fastest time on 1 minute 27, 128. Max Esteban missed Thursday's media commitments to welcome the birth of his daughter Lily. Given her Pique Verstappen lineage, who knows if we'll have another generational superstar in 18 years time. The Dutchman has enjoyed vast success in Miami, winning here in 2022 and from ninth on the grid in 2023. He was set to win again here last year before an untimely safety car cost him the top spot to Norris in his McLaren. Verstappen would finish the only practice session in P3, just four tenths of a second off Piastri's session-topping time. Piastri leads the way, heading into sprint qualifying later in the day. He was followed by Leclerc, Verstappen, Carlos Sainz and Albon. Isaac Hadjar was P6 ahead of Russell, Yuki Tsunoda, Kimi Antonelli and Fernando Alonso. 11th for Lawson, ahead of Norris, Hamilton, Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoletto. Behrmann ended his session in the wall and down in P16, as Gasly, Ocon, Dewan and Strong round out the runners.