In glorious weather under the hot Florida sun, the Formula 1 drivers started their weekend in Miami with the first free practice session on Friday afternoon. Lance Stroll set the eighth fastest time behind his teammate Fernando Alonso.
At the Miami International Autodrome, the Quebecer covered the distance in 1:31.337 minutes. He was almost able to keep up with the veteran Spaniard, who was only a tenth of a second off at that point.
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“We really enjoyed our training sessions today. [vendredi] and this allowed us to better understand how the changes made to the track will affect our race, the Montreal native revealed at the end of the day, according to his team’s website.
“I felt comfortable in the car. We made some changes after the first session that improved its handling, so I’m optimistic for qualifying.”
Stroll will try to avoid trouble on Florida’s soil this year. In 2022, at the first edition of this Grand Prix, he qualified 10th on the grid, but a fuel problem forced him to start from the pit lane. He still finished the race in 10th place.
The heat will inevitably be a factor again this year.
“We know it’s going to be incredibly hot and the track temperature will be possibly the highest of the season,” continued Stroll. Tire degradation will be an important factor to keep an eye on throughout the weekend.
It was the two Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton who dominated this first practice ahead of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). A second session will take place later in the day.
On Saturday, qualifying precedes the race the next day. There could be some rain clouds in the skies over Miami on Sunday.