Lewis Hamilton would have hoped for more than the seventh place he secured in Sprint Qualifying at the 2026 Miami Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion was unable to extract the maximum from his Ferrari in the decisive moments, particularly during his final push lap, where he reported clear limitations with the car: “the car didn’t feel…”. These were the words of the Ferrari driver, who will line up seventh on the grid for the Sprint Race.
At one stage, it seemed as though the Scuderia could genuinely fight for top positions, but everything changed when the soft tyres were fitted for the crucial attempts. Several issues emerged, including a noticeable drop in straight-line speed linked to energy deployment. Lewis Hamilton was left frustrated by the outcome, as he had expected a significantly stronger performance from both himself and the car.
Despite the disappointing result, Hamilton remains focused on recovery and improvement over the remainder of the weekend, which has not started in ideal fashion for Ferrari.
Hamilton: “We will work hard to fight back in the race”
“We didn’t really know what to expect. I was hoping we would do better. But yes, the car didn’t feel particularly strong. Whether we will be better on other tracks? Oh, I have no idea. I thought we would be stronger than we were today. We’ll need to work a bit overnight to try to understand why we are not so quick. Yes, I was confident we would be much better, but it didn’t turn out that way,” said Lewis Hamilton, expressing his frustration after Sprint Qualifying.
Clearly, the many updates brought by Ferrari had raised expectations, especially considering how the SF-26 had looked competitive earlier in the weekend, topping the timing sheets in both free practice and in SQ1 and SQ2. However, when it mattered most, the performance did not fully deliver. At this stage, there are still several questions that need answering, particularly regarding energy deployment in the final flying attempt.
Even after a month-long break, some of the same issues continue to affect the performance of the Scuderia. Rivals have also made progress, with McLaren in particular showing a clear step forward. Nevertheless, Lewis Hamilton refuses to lose confidence and hopes that hard work will allow the team to resolve the problems and approach the Sprint race with a more competitive package.
“I am disappointed with today’s Sprint Qualifying result, but we are only at the beginning of the weekend. We will work hard tonight to try to have a comeback race tomorrow and then a good qualifying session,” he added.
In summary, Lewis Hamilton’s disappointment following the Miami Sprint Qualifying highlights the gap between Ferrari’s practice potential and their ultimate execution, leaving the team with a significant task ahead to optimize their energy deployment and race pace for the remainder of the Florida weekend.
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