Sergio Perez led the final practice session for the Miami Grand Prix while team mate Max Verstappen suffered a scare when he narrowly missed the barrier with a late spin.
He was in a better position than Esteban Ocon, however, as the Alpine driver crashed early on and failed to set a time.
Verstappen, who missed out on so much running during first and second practice, was eager to get out on track when the session began. The world champion left his garage on medium tyres for an apparent long fuel run.
With many other drivers having missed out on running yesterday due to the red flags in second practice, several joined him, while Charles Leclerc opted for soft tyres instead.
Verstappen set an early fast lap on the mediums, only to be beaten by Leclerc with a 1’31.706 on the soft tyre. Verstappen then reclaimed the top spot, beating Leclerc’s time comfortably – despite remaining on the medium tyre – at 1’31.355.
Alpine confirmed their driver was taken to the medical centre for checks but cleared to return to his team. It remains to be seen if his A522 will be repaired in time for him to participate in qualifying.
The session restarted with 33 minutes remaining and a line of cars keen to get back out on track. The soft tyre runs began in earnest in the final 20 minutes of the session but no driver was initially able to best Verstappen’s medium tyre time. Eventually, with 17 minutes to go, Leclerc set a 1’30.981 to beat the Red Bull at last.
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Perez set the pace ahead of qualifyingPierre Gasly was shown the black and white flag for…