George tops the timings on Friday ahead of Formula One’s Inaugural Miami Grand Prix.

Aiming to maximise on track time, George immediately took to the circuit on a set of Soft Pirelli tyres as he began to familiarise himself with the new circuit.

George set his benchmark lap time of 1.39.727 on his first run but quickly improved to 1.34.846 and into P6.
With 26 minutes remaining, a red flag for Valtteri Bottas halted track action and all drivers returned to the pits.

Once the stricken Alfa Romeo was retrieved, the session resumed with 16 minutes left on the clock.

As the track continued evolve, George’s lap times fell, and the Brit ended the first practice of the weekend in P2 with a 1.31.169 lap time.

With the sun setting and the track cooling, George made a steady start to FP2, joining the track after 10 minutes.
On his first run, the Brit put in a 1.32.041 lap time before a red flag for Carlos Sainz Jr stopped all track action.

With 30 minutes left, the session resumed, and George quickly delivered his best lap time of 1.29.938 to take him top of the timings.

A second brief red flag paused the session once again as Nicholas Latifi’s Williams was recovered.
With no one else able to challenge George’s time, the Brit ended Friday in P1.

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George Russell – Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One™ Team Driver

We always knew that the warm conditions here in Miami would suit our car better - we've suffered with getting temperature in the tyres at previous races so that's a big factor here. The car is running well but it's only Friday, we're not getting carried away. It's probably been the most productive Friday we've had this season in terms of learning. We know that the porpoising will always be there but maybe it's working at a lower range compared to where we were previously. You generally have races that go in your favour and some that go against you - Imola obviously wasn't a strong circuit for us but from what we've seen so far, the car seems to work well around Miami.
It's a unique circuit, I was a bit unsure how I would take to the slow-speed tight section underneath the bridge, it's a bit of a head-banger through there, but for the rest, they've done an amazing job - undulating in sections, with high-speed corners, I think it's great for the fans.

FP3 for the Miami Grand Prix will get underway at 6pm BST on Saturday May 7.