Miami, FP3: Verstappen beat Leclerc to top spot

Max Verstappen went quickest in the final the third free practice session for the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, beating Charles Leclerc by over four tenths of a second as Sergio Pérez finished third in the second Red Bull.

Ferrari drivers Leclerc and Carlos Sainz set the early pace with Sainz leading the way on 1:30.748 three tenths clear of his team-mate. Both were on soft compound Pirelli tyres.

That time was beaten by Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly on mediums, but then the Red Bull pairing took to the track on softs and after Pérez posted a time of 1:29.266s, Verstappen swept past it with a time of 1:28.963.

Leclerc then split the Red Bulls with a 1:29.057 also on softs, before Pérez went for another run and took top spot with a lap of 1:28.641.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso moved into third on mediums but then Verstappen vaulted ahead of Pérez with his next run of 1:27.969s, three a few hundredths of a second off his best time of FP2.

Sainz moved to second place with a lap of 1:28.125 but Verstappen extended his advantage, first by posting a lap of 1:27.669 and then by chipping away over more runs to lower the eventual session benchmark to 1:27.535

Pérez closed in on the Dutchman with a lap of 1:28.050 but it was Leclerc who got closest to the world champion with a late lap of 1:27.941 to move up to second.

Sainz was left with fourth place ahead of the Alpine cars of Ocon and Gasly, while Valtteri Bottas ended the session in seventh ahead of Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, Williams’ Alex Albon and Mercedes’ George Russell.