Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Multiple drivers found themselves sliding across the track during Friday’s first practice in Miami
Coming into the second Miami Grand Prix, the grip on the track was one of the storylines to watch this Formula 1 weekend.
Following the conclusion of the first practice session, that remains an item to watch.
Friday’s first practice session found multiple examples of drivers struggling with grip on the track, including both Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez of Red Bull along with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. Then there was Nico Hülkenberg of Haas, who moments after posting one of the fastest laps of the first session found himself into the wall coming out of Turn 3, on a relatively straight portion of Miami International Autodrome, bringing out the red flag:
Following his spin, Hülkenberg radioed in simply: “**** I lost it.”
Again, Hülkenberg was not the only driver struggling with the surface. Verstappen at one point radioed into Red Bull’s pit lane that if you are even a tiny bit offline, you lose all grip on the track.
Later in the session, Pierre Gasly lost the rear, as did Alex Albon who spun completely around near Turn 17. Hometown hopeful Logan Sargeant found himself in the runoff in Turn 8 in the final moments of the practice session.
When the first practice session came to a close, it was actually Mercedes atop the timing sheets. George Russell, who pitted early as his W14 needed a steering rack change, posted the fastest time of the session followed by his teammate Lewis Hamilton. Leclerc, Verstappen, and Carlos Sainz Jr. rounded out the top five:
Russell and Hamilton posted their laps right at the end of the session, which might be an indication of the track surface starting to round into shape as more rubber is laid down by the drivers.
The surface around Hard Rock Stadium was a major factor a season ago in the inaugural Miami Grand Prix. During the practice sessions a year ago drivers noted the bumpy state of the surface in Miami, with Lando Norris and Pérez in particular noted the bumpy nature of the track.
“It is extremely tricky. It is very bumpy in some areas which is not quite what we were expecting,” Norris said after the first two practice sessions. “I think everyone was expecting it to be very smooth and beautiful but it’s not. The surface is very tricky as well because you go offline anywhere and it is pretty much game over and you end up in the wall, so it punishing let’s say.”
“I am really disappointed there is no grip off-line. It’s a shame because I think the racing will be bad due to that. As soon as you try to go off-line, there is no grip,” said the Red Bull driver. “It’s wet on that side. It feels very gravelly. Racing will be hard. I think it’s going to be an interesting race. We are all in the same boat. We don’t know exactly where we are. That is why you have seen quite a few people ending up in the barriers. I feel like it isn’t going to be great for racing now.”
Then there was the grip or lack thereof. Early in the week teams and drivers were struggling to find consistent grip around the circuit. Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner noted the challenges the lack of grip presented early in the week. “There’s only really one line. You go off-line and there’s zero grip,” said the Red Bull boss. “That’s going to make racing a little bit tricky but they are finding their way into it and finding the balance and setup compromise for the types of corner that you’ve got here. It’s quite challenging.”
However, following some resurfacing work put together in the days before the race, both drivers and teams eventually found there was more group around the track than expected. Wolff had this to say after the inaugural Miami GP: “Even the track breaking, Turn 17 for example, gave great racing,” he said. “It was very difficult to brake into Turn 17. If you lost the line then you lost a position or two, and it’s clear that the drivers will say: ‘well that’s not optimal.’ But for racing and entertainment it was great stuff. It’s exactly what it should be.”
It’s almost like a trick gravel bed that you need to put in there to make for exciting action. All in all, I would say for a first event, nine out of 10,” he added.
Race organizers, perhaps in an attempt to get to a 10 out of 10 on Wolff’s personal grading scale, did have the track resurfaced ahead of this year’s race. “There were parts of the racetrack last year where there was one line where there should have been the possibility to overtake, so we weren’t happy with that,” said race organizer Tom Garfinkel back in January. “So, we’re going to go ahead and repave it in an effort to try and get it to where the racing is better. It races well enough [already] according to the teams and drivers but we want it to be as good as it can possibly be so that’s why we did it.”
The resurfaced track seemed to lead to some faster times on Friday, however. Sam Collins of F1TV conducted a quick analysis of the times from 2022, and the times from Friday’s first practice session and noted that the times were already much faster than a year ago. As we sometimes see with tracks such as Miami, over the course of the week the grip settles in, as it did last year, as more rubber is laid down on the surface over the multiple practice sessions, as well as qualifying.
However, the surface is not there yet, which made for a slippery first practice session in Miami. But if the laps we saw at the end from Hamilton and Russell are any indication, things could be starting to come together.
