Charles Leclerc crashes out in FP2 at the Miami Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc brought out the red flag as he crashed nose first into the barriers during FP2 at the Miami Grand Prix.

The Ferrari man had been running in P3 with 10 minutes left of the session when he approached Turn 7 at speed.

As he went to turn the corner, his car snapped and even though he managed to save it, the SF-23 then snapped in the other direction and Leclerc was powerless to prevent a collision with the wall.

With the sound of screeching rubber as Leclerc slammed on the brakes, the Ferrari man slid nose first into the barrier and brought an early end to his session.

Leclerc can at least be thankful it is not the Baku race as he does have the full complement of three practice sessions to get used to the Miami track, but it is hardly ideal preparation for the man searching for his first victory this season.

Speaking ahead of the weekend’s running, Leclerc highlighted Ferrari’s race pace as their biggest area of deficit in regards to championship leaders Red Bull.

“It’s difficult to say for us because we don’t know exactly what’s underneath the covers of this Red Bull,” he told Sky Sports F1.

“But one thing is for sure is that they are doing something right for the race. They can push on those tyres without ever degrading them or overheating them which, for us, is a big problem.

“Whenever we do two or three good laps, then we struggle a lot. Or if I manage the tyres well like I did in Baku, yes, towards the end of the run we were quite okay but, at the beginning, we are losing so much to try and avoid overheating those tyres. So we need to find something.”

Leclerc will also be running with a new MGU-K and gearbox after Ferrari confirmed changes ahead of the second practice session. Both parts are within Leclerc’s season allocation so he will not be hit with any grid penalties.