Report
PRACTICE 2: Weug beats Chambers to the fastest time in second Miami Practice
Maya Weug ended the second Free Practice session in Miami top of the order, with the Standings leader finishing two tenths clear of Chloe Chambers on a 1:58.824.
Eager to take advantage of the additional session ahead of Qualifying, Ella Lloyd was the first back out on track in the afternoon. The McLaren driver’s initial run of a 2:01.356 put her six tenths ahead of Chambers.
Whilst the PREMA Racing trio opted to wait it out in the pitlane, yellow flags were waved inside the first six minutes after a mistake from Wild Card driver Ava Dobson saw her hit the back of Lia Block’s car at Turn 1.
Times quickly tumbled with Campos Racing teammates Chambers and Alisha Palmowski going top in turn, before Weug broke into the 1:59s. Chambers then reasserted herself in P1, going two tenths up on the Ferrari driver with a 1:59.647.
Moving into the top-five on her first attempt, Pin then slotted into second on her follow-up, with the top-three covered by less than a tenth.
As the halfway mark approached, Weug went fastest momentarily until she was pipped by Pin by 0.080s on a 1:59.337. As the field boxed for fresh tyres and began Qualifying simulations, Aurelia Nobels capitalised to climb into fourth.
Chambers found time inside the final 10 minutes, setting a 1:58.824 to go half a second clear. Nobels then went second before Weug managed to leapfrog her fellow Ferrari junior and close to a tenth off the Red Bull Ford driver’s best effort.
As the session drew to a close, Weug revealed her hand and laid down a 1:58.545, an effort that left Chambers 0.279s short of. A late improvement from Nina Gademan elevated the Alpine driver into the top three ahead of fellow rookie Lloyd.
A solid session from Nobels saw her lead ART Grand Prix teammate Block, with the pair in P5 and P6, respectively. Pin rounded out Friday in seventh ahead of Palmowski, Kick Sauber’s Emma Felbermayr and Charlotte Tilbury driver Chloe Chong, as the trio get set to race in Miami for the first time.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The 18 drivers have a chance to sleep on what they’ve learnt across both Practices. An action-packed Saturday kicks off with Qualifying at 10:25 local time (UTC -4).