MIAMI—Palm trees, yachts in a fake marina and thousands of Formula One fans lined the brand new Miami International Autodrome surrounding Hard Rock Stadium on Friday, straining to catch a glimpse of their favorite drivers.
Afternoon storm clouds rested in the distance as the Formula One cars hit the track in Miami Gardens for the first time on Friday, getting a feel for the locally-sourced materials—a mixture of U.S.-mined granite from Georgia and limestone from Southern Florida.
And in a turn of events, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc barely edged past Mercedes’s George Russell during the first practice rather than his normal foe this season, Marx Verstappen, who ran a pace 0.