7 May 2022

There was high anticipation as Formula 1 took to the new circuit in Miami for the first time with Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso getting up to speed quickly throughout the afternoon’s practice sessions.

 

The track proved low grip early on with the scorching Floridian sunshine bringing track temperatures up to 56 °C. Both drivers bedded themselves into their programmes with Fernando ending the day with the fifth fastest time – a 1min 30.372secs – around the 5.412km circuit with Esteban—running the new, upgraded floor package—in ninth on a 1min 30.861secs.

 

Tomorrow sees Free Practice 3 at 13:00pm local time before the first ever Miami Grand Prix Qualifying at 16:00pm.

 

Esteban Ocon:

 

“After waiting so long for this race weekend and with all the hype, it’s finally great to be able to be on track and experiencing it all for real. For us, it was a good day of learning on what is a brand-new track for everyone. We had a first taste of how the car would behave with the simulator work we did beforehand but, of course, with new data, we can now start to confirm and look deeper into some of the discussion points. The car seems competitive and moving in the right direction, which is good news, but it is tomorrow and Sunday that counts. There’s more to come.”

 

Fernando Alonso:

 

“It was a good day for us, learning the circuit and moving forward from the simulator laps to the real track. 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. We need to keep fine tuning the car; we look fast again this weekend and I think we are in a good position—I am optimistic.”

 

Alan Permane, Sporting Director:

 

“It’s great to be here in Miami and experiencing the buzz around the place that Formula 1 brings to the city. The organisers have done a very good job in building an impressive circuit with some fantastic facilities, which has brought a really cool vibe to the event. In terms of the on-track performance, we’ve had two solid sessions with both cars, albeit with some interruptions throughout with various red flags. We have focused on improving our race pace, so today, our focus was based around some experiments to better understand and ultimately better our long run pace. With both drivers inside the top ten and Fernando in fifth, it shows our single lap pace is still strong. It’s difficult to have a clear picture on long runs due to the red flags in Free Practice 2, so there’s a little more work to do there. Other than that, it’s been a good day and we’re all looking forward to taking on the rest of the weekend.”