Max Verstappen ended a red flag interrupted second practice session fastest for the Miami Grand Prix while Charles Leclerc found the barrier.
The Dutchman headed Carlos Sainz with Leclerc third best despite nosing out of the session with 10 minutes remaining.
Both Red Bull cars looked to have pace in hand on top of their best efforts, a worrying sign for the field as Verstappen remained 0.4s clear at the end of the session.
Leclerc slid out after he corrected a snap of oversteer to nose into the tecpro barrier at Turn 7 to draw the day’s second red flag.
Results: Miami Grand Prix, Free Practice 2
As Free Practice 2 began, times were immediately rapid, Verstappen equalling George Russell’s Free Practice 1 best inside five minutes.
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It left him 0.6s clear of team-mate Perez with Pierre Gasly third, almost a second adrift.
Ferrari quickly usurped the championship leader, firstly with Sainz baking a 1:30.128s before Leclerc recorded a 1:29.497s.
Kevin Magnussen lost control of his Haas at Turn 14, lightly brushing the barrier as he skated through the run-off.
He miraculously did no damage and was able to continue.
Verstappen soon went fastest again with a 1:29.380s to sit 0.1s quicker than Leclerc’s best.
Perez had a near miss with a Scuderia AlphaTauri as he rounded Turn 13, sweeping wide and nearly brushing the barrier on drivers’ right.
Conditions were improving as Lando Norris soon went fastest on a set of soft tyres, managing a 1:28/741s.
Meanwhile, Verstappen had returned to the shed with his team working on the headrest of his RB19.
Across the garage, Perez caught the eye of officials when he crossed the pit entry line, picking up a black and white flag in the process.
On track, Oscar Piastri rose to second fastest to briefly make for a McLaren one-two.
That lasted until Sainz and Alex Albon split the pair, Norris remaining fastest until Verstappen returned to the circuit.
When he did, he was on a set of soft tyres to scorch around the Miami International Autodrome in 1:28.255s.
Albon bailed out of Turn 17 shortly after the halfway point in the session, taking to the escape road before a flick spin returned him to the racetrack.
With 20 minutes remaining, conditions remained slippery with a host of drivers running wide.
Teams had switched their focus to race runs.
It didn’t end the errors with Russell sliding long at Turn 11, bailing out of the left-hander early enough that he could spin the Mercedes around.
Leclerc was less fortunate when he ran wide at Turn 7, locking the brakes but unable to stop before finding the barrier.
It drew the red flag with little more than 10 minutes remaining.
The Monegasque driver had corrected the car as the rear end began to slide out, the correction firing him into the wall and plucking the front-right wheel from the Ferrari.
It was a brief interruption and running resumed with four minutes remaining, officials electing not to reset the tecpro barriers.
All 19 surviving runners headed back out, more to be on track at the chequered flag to perform practice starts on the grid.
None improved their times, meaning Verstappen ended the session fastest from Sainz, Leclerc, and Perez.
Alonso was fifth fastest with Norris slipping to sixth and Piastri dropping to 16th.
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