Verstappen sets rapid pace in second Miami practice

Verstappen sets rapid pace in second Miami practice
_129615727_gettyimages-1487833534.jpgFollow live text and radio commentary of third practice for the Miami Grand Prix on Saturday from 17:00 BST, with build-up to qualifying from 20:00

Max Verstappen set an imposing pace in Friday practice at the Miami Grand Prix as he headed the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

The world champion was 0.385 seconds quicker than Sainz, with Leclerc just 0.083secs further adrift.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez, six points adrift of Verstappen in the title race, was fourth, 0.489secs back.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fifth, ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.

The seven-time champion's team-mate George Russell, who headed Hamilton in a Mercedes one-two in first practice, was down in 15th, struggling to get a lap time out of the car.

Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, Alpine's Esteban Ocon and Williams driver Alex Albon completed the top 10.

Leclerc crashed on his race-simulation runs later in the session with about eight minutes to go. The rear twitched through the long right-hander at Turn Seven; Leclerc caught it but could not stop the car nosing into the barriers.

The front-right corner and front wing were damaged but the new floor introduced as an upgrade by Ferrari this weekend appeared unscathed.

The session did resume after the accident, but the lost time meant all the drivers will go into Saturday with very limited information as to their race pace.

In the first session, two drivers damaged their cars, Nico Hulkenberg crashing his Haas at Turn Three and Alpha Tauri's Nyck de Vries spinning and brushing the wall half way around the lap.

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