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Charles Leclerc clinched pole position at the 2022 Miami Grand Prix at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida. Carlos Sainz was in second position, just 0.190 seconds slower than Leclerc. Max Verstappen was in third position behind the two Scuderia Ferrari drivers.

Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas rounded off the top five positions in the qualification session at this brand new circuit.

The qualifying session started in hot conditions with air temperatures at 33 degrees C and track temperatures at 53 degrees C at the Miami International Autodromo circuit. Esteban Ocon suffered a heavy crash in final practice and his car could not be repaired in time for qualification.

The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C2), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C3), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C4), the middle range of compounds in the Pirelli tyre range.

Q1: Magnussen knocked out

Carlos Sainz with a lap time of 1m30.858s went fastest to take the top spot in the early running. Verstappen with a storming lap of 1m30.235s laid down the gauntlet and went to the top of the time charts. Leclerc with a lap time of 1m29.474s displaced Verstappen at the top of the time charts.

After a highly-anticipated return of W Series‘ third season, the Miami double-header will take place this weekend at the Miami International Autodrome. W Series will campaign its longest race calendar this year with 10 races at eight Formula One supported Grand Prix weekends, with new broadcast partnerships Sky Sports and ESPN showing live footage.

Spanish driver Nerea Marti set the fastest lap time at the Miami circuit of 1:56:915. She will start in front of two-time champion Jamie Chadwick and Bristol Street Motors driver Alice Powell for the season’s first race.

Jenner Racing’s Chadwick was less than one tenth of a second behind the Spanish racing driver after a late collision by Fabienne Wohlwend brought out a red flag with 29 seconds of the session remaining, resulting in the session ending early as she made contact with a wall. Alice Powell, who set the fastest time in yesterdays practice session will start on the second row ahead of Emma Kimiläinen.

The walls and lack of grip out on the track meant that drivers had very small margins for errors. Pole sitter Nerea Marti had a close call with the wall earlier in the session, as Chloe Chambers also span at the entry to the chicane on Turn 14 whilst the other drivers pitted. This caused a four-minute delay in the session but Chambers managed to finish 11th, being the fastest of the five new drivers making their debut in Miami this weekend.

After the red flag, Marti set the fastest lap by seven one hundredths of a second, ahead of Jamie Chadwick who improved from three tenths behind to three tenths ahead. 2021 runner up Alice Powell was showing great pace, being two tenths up on the pole lap time set by Nerea Marti, however due to the incident could not finish her lap and will start in third position for the opening race.

W Series took to the racetrack for the first time in 2022 ahead of its first double-header in Miami. The 18 drivers tested the cars around the Miami International Autodrome for season three’s first practice session.

British racing driver Alice Powell set the fastest time in the session with Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors, topping lap times ahead of CortDAO driver Fabienne Wohlwend who took the second fastest time and reigning champion Jamie Chadwick taking the third.

Emma Kimilainen started out by setting the quickest time at the very start of the practice session. The PUMA racing driver struggled at the beginning of the 2021 season but produced some good results for her team towards the end and after a win at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, collected valuable points for the championship.

Towards the end of the 2022 Miami practice session, rookie Juju Noda crashed into the wall at the exit of turn 16 after following leader Alice Powell, finishing the session ahead of teammate Bianca Bustamante. Emely de Heus also had a spin in the session with Sirin Racing, but managed to stay clear of the walls whilst testing out the championships Tatuus F3 T-318 car as well as the track ahead of qualifying and the season’s first race.

The times throughout the session remained close to each other as Fabienne Wohlwend took a purple sector by over half a second with a lap time of 1:57:212. Powell however pipped Wohlwend setting a lap time of 1:57:118 towards the end. She had a strong 2021 season, coming second in the drivers’ standings after a close battle with two-time champion Jamie Chadwick.

Sergio Pérez led the third free practice session of the 2022 Miami Grand Prix at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida, USA.

Charles Leclerc finished in second position, just 0.194 seconds slower than the Mexican. Max Verstappen finished in third position at the end of the session.

Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel rounded off the top five positions. The two Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team drivers, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, ended the session in fifteenth and seventeenth positions as under the conditions the W13 was porpoising again.

The race started under very hot conditions with air temperatures at 33 degrees C and track temperatures at 48 degrees C.

Verstappen set the early pace with a lap time of 1m34.037s. Leclerc displaced the Dutchman from the top spot with a lap of 1m32.250s. It was game on between the top two contenders as Verstappen went to the top of the time charts again with a lap time of 1m31.355s.

A penalty for Gabriele Mini denied the Italian his maiden Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine victory despite the ART Grand Prix driver leading from start to finish at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari on Saturday.

The victory ultimately went the way of Prema Racing’s Dino Beganovic, with the race finishing under a red flag, the second of the afternoon, with two additional safety car periods also affecting the race.

During an early red flag for a crash for MP Motorsport’s Sami Meguetounif, it was announced that Mini was under investigation by the stewards for a false start, and they handed the Italian a ten-second time penalty to be applied after the race.  Meguetounif was taken to the medical centre for precautionary checks due to the crash after heavy contact with the barriers.

Beganovic, who managed to pass ART Grand Prix’s Mari Boya early on to run second, thus was in the right place to take his second victory of the season and move clear at the top of the championship standings, while Boya held off the challenge of another Prema driver, Mercedes-Benz protégé Paul Aron for second.

Aron had passed his Prema Racing team-mate Sebastián Montoya and was pressurising Boya for second when the red flags flew just before they were due to start the final lap after a two-car crash between G4 Racing’s Axel Gnos and Arden Motorsport’s Eduardo Barrichello at the first chicane.

Gabriele Mini took his maiden Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine pole position on Saturday, with the Italian heading ART Grand Prix team-mate Mari Boya.

With thirty-six entrants again on the entry list, Qualifying was again split into two groups, and Mini was the man to beat in Group A, and the 2020 Italian Formula 4 champion ended with a best time of 1:39.526 to head the session.

Dino Beganovic, a race winner in the opening weekend of the series at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza two weeks ago, was only 0.064 seconds behind Mini in Group A, just ahead of his Prema Racing team-mate Paul Aron, while R-ace GP’s Gabriel Bortoleto was fourth ahead of Trident’s Italian acer Leonardo Fornaroli.

Group A’s session was ended a few seconds early as FA Racing’s Victor Bernier brought out the red flags after a spin.

Group B saw Boya hit top spot, but the Spaniard’s time of 1:39.755 meant he was unable to better the time set by Mini in Group A, thus giving the Italian pole position for the opening race.

Lando Norris felt it was a ‘reasonable’ day for the McLaren F1 Team at the Miami International Autodrome on Friday, although he says there are some challenges to overcome if they are to be competitive this weekend.

The Briton, coming off the back of his first podium of the season last time out at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, ended eleventh fastest in the first-ever practice session at the Miami track on Friday morning before improving to sixth in the afternoon.

Norris believes that every saw bit of time they can find during Qualifying could mean a bit swing of finishing position, so it is key McLaren work hard to fine-tune the car for Saturday’s running.

“A reasonable day, if a bit tricky,” said Norris. “There’s a few challenges for us to overcome. First of all, the ambient temperatures are tough.

“The track grip is quite low when you leave the racing line, and it’s quite bumpy in places, so it’s a difficult track because of that. But despite that, we made some good progress throughout the day.

Barber Motorsports Park was one of few tracks so far this season that a majority of this rookie class has had experience racing on in an IndyCar, and the first natural road course that suits the European background of drivers like Christian Lundgaard and Callum Ilott. However, Barber is also one of the most physically demanding circuits on the calendar and it proved a challenge for this crop of rookies, including a heartbreaking early ending to the weekend for one. Let’s break it all down in this week’s IndyCar Series Rookie Report.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD – RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING

QUALIFYING: FOURTEENTH – RACE: FIFTEENTH (-1)

Lundgaard ran as high as ninth in the early stages of the race before traffic on pit lane cost the Dane all the ground he had made up. When trying to exit the pits on lap 29, he was held up by David Malukas, who was just entering his pit stall, which cost Lundgaard valuable track position. After that his race was quiet, coming home with a top fifteen finish.

“At that point we were already set back from there so it was all about keeping your head cool, save some fuel, and get the car over the line in the end,” Lundgaard said.

“We will go on to the first Indy GP in a couple of weeks and take it from there.”

On a positive note, Lundgaard jumped up two places in the championship standings from seventeenth to fifteenth, with 57 points so far this season.

John Hunter Nemechek doesn’t care if he spoiled the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series‘ throwback party at Darlington Raceway on Friday night. He’s just happy to finally get his first win of the season.

Nemechek won the pole and was stout in the opening laps before facing challenges from Zane Smith and Parker Kligerman. The latter took the lead with less than ten laps remaining in the first stage to win ahead of Ross Chastain, Carson Hocevar, Grant Enfinger, Chandler Smith, Nemechek, Tanner Gray, Ben Rhodes, Matt Crafton, and Stewart Friesen. Reaume Brothers Racing team-mates Akinori Ogata and owner Josh Reaume were caught in an early wreck together while Lawless Alan spun at the midway point for the segment’s two cautions.

Stage #2 was the Niece Motorsports Extravaganza as Chastain and Hocevar led every lap save for three under caution (following Tate Fogleman‘s accident) by Todd Bodine, who incidentally produced a yellow flag of his own earlier in the segment. Chastain and Hocevar battled until the latter cleared his ally for good with six circuits left. Chastain, Kligerman, Enfinger, Nemechek, Christian Eckes, Crafton, Ryan Preece, Rhodes, and Chandler Smith rounded out the top ten.

The third stage ended two laps after it began when multiple drivers including David Gilliland Racing‘s Hailie Deegan and Tanner Gray crashed with Austin Wayne Self and Chase Purdy. Three more accidents occurred in the stage including Corey Heim‘s spin, Blaine Perkins and Fogleman wrecking, and Rhodes going around. The Rhodes caution set up overtime, where Hocevar hoped to not “lift until I saw God” in a last-ditch attempt to pass Nemechek but failed.

The win is Nemechek’s twelfth in the Truck Series and first since Pocono in June 2021.

Fernando Alonso felt it was a good day for the BWT Alpine F1 Team on Friday, with the Spaniard ending fifth fastest in the afternoon session at the Miami International Autodrome.

After ending twelfth in the morning session, which was all about learning about the track, the two-time World Champion was back on form in the afternoon and ended the day just four-tenths of a second off the best time of the day set by George Russell.

Alonso says it is now important to fine tune their car ahead of Saturday’s running, and he remains optimistic of a strong weekend for Alpine in Florida.

“It was a good day for us, learning the circuit and moving forward from the simulator laps to the real track,” said Alonso.  “There are always some differences, so today was all about understanding everything quickly.

“It’s an interesting track to drive and I think we had a clean Friday. There is a lot of data to analyse now, and you can see that there is a lot more to come for everybody.

Sergio Pérez says it was a difficult first day of running at the Miami International Autodrome on Friday, and his first impressions of the track makes him think it will be hard on Sunday.

Red flags during the afternoon session for Carlos Sainz Jr.’s crash and Nicholas Latifi’s stoppage means a lot of teams will have lost valuable track and set-up time, although the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver finished inside the top four in both Friday sessions.

Pérez says they have an idea of what to do in Qualifying on Saturday, but Sunday might be a trickier, with the Mexican saying they will likely to go into the race ‘blind’ with valuable track and tyre information missing.

“It’s been a difficult day for every driver today,” said Pérez. “I think it was a very messy session this afternoon, in total I did one medium lap and two soft laps.

“On the high fuel there was nothing we could do because of all the red flags and the time we lost. We are basically going blind into the race and I think most people are in the same boat as us. For qualifying we have more of an idea, but things can change very quickly with the weather around here.

Joel Granfors won the first GB3 Championship race of the weekend at Silverstone on Saturday for Fortec Motorsport, ahead of Luke Browning and Tom Lebbon.

Roberto Faria and James Hedley made wheel-to-wheel contact at Copse on Lap 1, but both survived.

Matthew Rees ran wide at Club, seemingly with damage, but didn’t lose too many positions.

Granfors led by 1.9 seconds after the first lap, while Browning made his way past Lebbon for second place.

Javier Sagrera went side-by-side with Rees through Stowe having seemed to get the move done at Becketts, but was able to hold onto the position.

Charles Leclerc was pleased with his opening days work in Miami, with the Monegasque racer finishing inside the top two in both free practice sessions on Friday.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver, the current leader in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship Drivers’ standings heading into the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, ended fastest in the morning session on Friday, and was a close second to George Russell in the afternoon.

Leclerc says everything went to plan on his side of the garage, and he is expecting an exciting weekend around a track that will likely be aggressive on the Pirelli tyres.

“It was a good day,” said Leclerc. “We focused on building up our pace little by little and learned quite a bit about this new track. It is challenging and really nice to drive, with my favourite part being the one from turn 11 to turn 16 in the second sector.

“Things went smoothly on our side and we tested everything we planned to. It looks like everyone is close together, which should make for an exciting weekend.

George Russell says that whilst it was pleasing to end the opening day of practice for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix with the quickest time, he knows it is only Friday and the important sessions are still to come.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver had finished the morning session at the Miami International Autodrome second fastest behind Charles Leclerc, but the two drivers switched positions in the afternoon, the Briton posting a time of 1:29.938 to lead the way.

Russell felt it was the most productive Friday for the team so far in 2022, although he acknowledges that the porpoising seen with the W13 is likely to continue beyond this weekend.

“We always knew that the warm conditions here in Miami would suit our car better – we’ve suffered with getting temperature in the tyres at previous races so that’s a big factor here,” said Russell.

“The car is running well but it’s only Friday, we’re not getting carried away. It’s probably been the most productive Friday we’ve had this season in terms of learning. We know that the porpoising will always be there but maybe it’s working at a lower range compared to where we were previously.”

Chris Dittmann was unhappy with his team’s results in Qualifying as the GB3 Championship visits Silverstone for the first time this season.

McKenzy Cresswell put himself in P9 for Race 1, with Branden Oxley starting P12.

The Checkered Flag spoke to the Chris Dittmann Racing Team Principal ahead of the first race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon.

“Very disappointed to be honest, that’s not where we want to be, not where I think we should be.

“I think with a few small things in Qualifying that didn’t go our way, traffic and things like that, that would have helped a bit but it’s not everything.”