Miami GP || May 5 || 16h00 (Local time)
3 May 2024
McLaren on top in first practice
Hamilton and Button set the pace
Practice for the Spanish Grand Prix got off to a chilly start on Friday morning.
Cold air and track temperatures meant the teams were in no rush to send their cars out. As a result, there were only eight names on the time-board after thirty minutes, with Massa leading in front of Alguersuari and Kobayashi.
The Brazilian was the only frontrunner to lap early in the session as the others waited in the pits for track conditions to get better. Both Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel were the first to join him and were immediately on the pace.
It took the German two laps to appear at the top of the timesheets, with a fastest 1’22’’422 lap time. He was demoted to P2 a few seconds later by his teammate Webber before retaking the lead and losing it to the Australian once more.
Michael Schumacher put an end to this Red Bull tussle when he put his Mercedes on top, with 35 minutes remaining. The German was the first to dip under the 1’22 barrier but was quickly demoted to third by the McLarens of Button and Hamilton.
The last part of the session saw very little improvement as the teams tested with higher fuel loads.
Hamilton stayed on top with a best time of 1’21’’134 and was five tenths of a second quicker than Jenson Button. Michael Schumacher held on to third spot ahead of the Red Bulls of Webber and Vettel.
Nico Rosberg ended the session in sixth place. Kubica, Alonso, Petrov and Kobayashi completed the top ten.
Replacing Sutil in the Force India, Paul di Resta did a good job and set the 13th fastest lap time. Tonio Liuzzi was 15th fastest.
HRT’s new reserve driver Christian Klien started his duties with the 22nd lap time - five tenths of a second quicker than Bruno Senna. The Austrian did 26 laps in the session and will hand back his car to Karun Chandhok in the afternoon.
Pedro de la Rosa was unable to complete one single timed lap as the team worked hard to solve a gearbox problem on his Sauber car.
There was also some drama for Nico Hulkenberg who stopped on track with ten minutes to go.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren Mercedes | 1.21.134 | 21 | |
| 02 | Jenson Button | McLaren Mercedes | 1.21.672 | +0.538 | 14 |
| 03 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes GP | 1.21.716 | +0.582 | 12 |
| 04 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Renault | 1.22.011 | +0.877 | 27 |
| 05 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Renault | 1.22.026 | +0.892 | 22 |
| 06 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes GP | 1.22.070 | +0.936 | 19 |
| 07 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1.22.202 | +1.068 | 22 |
| 08 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1.22.258 | +1.124 | 19 |
| 09 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1.22.397 | +1.263 | 23 |
| 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber Ferrari | 1.22.492 | +1.358 | 26 |
| 11 | Sébastien Buemi | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 1.22.588 | +1.454 | 24 |
| 12 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1.22.975 | +1.841 | 22 |
| 13 | Paul Di Resta | Force India Mercedes | 1.23.030 | +1.896 | 21 |
| 14 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 1.23.110 | +1.976 | 31 |
| 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India Mercedes | 1.23.284 | +2.150 | 19 |
| 16 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams Cosworth | 1.23.312 | +2.178 | 22 |
| 17 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams Cosworth | 1.23.471 | +2.337 | 20 |
| 18 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus Cosworth | 1.25.329 | +4.195 | 17 |
| 19 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus Cosworth | 1.26.244 | +5.110 | 20 |
| 20 | Timo Glock | Virgin Racing Cosworth | 1.26.340 | +5.206 | 23 |
| 21 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin Racing Cosworth | 1.26.694 | +5.560 | 24 |
| 22 | Christian Klien | HRT F1 Cosworth | 1.27.250 | +6.116 | 26 |
| 23 | Bruno Senna | HRT F1 Cosworth | 1.27.752 | +6.618 | 27 |
| 24 | Pedro de la Rosa | Sauber Ferrari | -.—.--- | +-.--- | 3 |
