Max Verstappen on P2 during first and only free practice in Miami

Published on 01 May 2026 by Florence Cobben

Max Verstappen finished second in the first and only free practice for the Miami Grand Prix. The Oracle Red Bull Racing-driver was contending comfortably with the front of the field throughout the whole session, and with a 1:29.607 time, the Dutchman closed the session three-tenths behind Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. Oscar Piastri rounded out the top three.

After a long pause in the Formula 1-calendar following the cancellation of the Saudi Arabian and Bahrain Grands Prix, the sport is finally back underway on the 5.412-meter Miami International Autrodrome. Because of the regulation changes, the first and only practice of the weekend has been extended to an hour-and-a-half. Among other things, the maximum allowed amount of energy that may be recovered has been reduced from 8 to 7 megajoules. This is intended to prevent excessive energy harvesting and ensure that drivers can push flat-out for longer. On the other hand, the peak power of super-clipping has been increased from 250 to 350 kilowatts. As a result, drivers will need to spend less time recharging their energy.

At the start of the session, Max Verstappen takes to the asphalt with hard tyres under his RB22. At the Red Bull Racing garage, onlookers see a new innovation. The upper segment of the rear wing can flip upside down in ‘straight’ mode, allowing the car to climb to higher top speed. Ferrari was the first to run the concept, and also in this session the Prancing Horse runs the ‘Macarena’-wings. Meanwhile, Max slowly builds up his pace, first putting in a 1:32.022 lap time and later 1:31.047, placing him at P2 by the end of seven laps. He dives back into the pits.

After a short stay in the pits, Max heads out on track again on a set of medium compound tyres. He improves his time to a 1:30.465, putting him in fourth place behind Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc. With only one free practice before a sprint race coming up, Max focuses on race pace next.

With a quarter of an hour on the clock, the drivers focus on qualifying runs once more. Max, for the first time, dons the soft tyres and soars momentarily to first place (1:29.776). Moments later, Leclerc goes faster. After a cooldown lap, Max tries another qualifying lap, improving his time to a 1:29.607. The lap is only good enough for second place, three-tenths behind Leclerc, positions that hold till the end of the session. When the qualifying is over, Oscar Piastri is in third, followed by Lewis Hamilton and the two Mercedes drivers.

The Miami sprint race is set to start at 22:30.

Check the Max Verstappen Miami Collection, featuring T-shirts, hoodies, sweaters, shorts, caps, bucket hats, flasks, mugs, tote bags and scale models (1:2 and 1:4) of Max special Miami helmet: https://store.verstappen.com

Results first free practice Miami: