And welcome to our coverage for first and second practice of the 2022 Miami Grand Prix. Going to a new track is always fun, isn’t it? There’s a sense of the unknown and the danger of the unfamiliar for the drivers, too. Throw in that it’s a street circuit (as many of the newer tracks are, these days) and that also comes with even more added danger.
Of course, until you get to the racing on Sunday you – and the drivers, too – can say whatever you want about the circuit, waxing lyrical and so on. Yet the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and the eating in this case is the actual Grand Prix on Sunday.
It’s always good to have absolutely zero expectations for a new circuit and then to be surprised when they are exceeded. So far in 2022 we’ve had a few good races, but not quite of the 2021 vintage. That’s fine, it has been unpredictable in other ways. In any case, F1 has certainly tried to make this into an enormous event. It’s the first of two races in the United States this year and will be one of three in 2023, along the the Las Vegas race. In many ways they have tried to turn this event into F1’s Super Bowl.
Anyway, away from the extraneous stuff, there is a tight fight at the moment. Charles Leclerc leads the way for Ferrari, although his championship lead was cut after he went a bit far in the closing stages of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and spun. That has put Max Verstappen’s championship hopes back on track after two DNFs in the first three rounds. Not great for Ferrari fans in Imola, admitteldy, but it is probably what the championship needed. Leclerc’s lead is now down to 27 points from his Dutch rival. It could and should have been more.
Anyway, first practice starts at 7.30pm BST and lasts an hour and then we have second practice at 10.30pm, also for an hour. Let’s see what Miami has in store. Apart from that fake marina.
