Lewis Hamilton: “I didn’t get the most out of it in Q3, there was room to do better”. Lewis Hamilton reflects on his Miami GP qualifying performance after finishing sixth.

Third row start for the seven-time world champion

Lewis Hamilton could do no better than sixth place in qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver was almost two-tenths slower than his teammate Charles Leclerc and will now aim to recover positions in the race, which is set to start at 19:00 local time.

In the Sprint, the seven-time world champion was unable to match the pace of his rivals and also lost ground to a resurgent Max Verstappen. It remains to be seen whether Lewis Hamilton can change direction in today’s Grand Prix, in what has so far been a weekend without standout performances from the British driver.

Hamilton’s comments after qualifying

“We made a lot of changes to the car before the session and the feeling inside the cockpit was definitely better, especially in Q2 where we were quite competitive,” said Hamilton.

“In Q3 it was more complicated, I wasn’t able to extract the maximum performance, and I’m convinced there was margin to do better. I’m really grateful to the whole team for the hard work they are doing, both in bringing upgrades and in continuing to push us forward. It’s a step in the right direction: we need to keep working together to unlock even more from our car package.”

In summary, Lewis Hamilton’s qualifying performance in Miami highlights a Ferrari team that is making strides with its technical updates, though the British driver’s struggle to maximize the SF-26 in the final moments of Q3 leaves him with work to do from the third row.