Lewis Hamilton still stuck in a slump: “We lack speed, I don’t think I can recover in the Sprint”. Lewis Hamilton admits Ferrari’s lack of speed after qualifying only seventh in Miami's Sprint session.

China feels far away
Lewis Hamilton’s struggles in qualifying continue. There was no repeat of the Shanghai miracle, where the British Ferrari driver had taken pole in Sprint Qualifying and won the short race the next day. This time, the seven-time world champion had to settle for seventh in SQ3, once again beaten by teammate Charles Leclerc, who finished sixth with a margin of a couple of tenths.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after qualifying, Hamilton once again emphasized the SF-25’s difficulties, and didn’t appear particularly optimistic about tomorrow’s Sprint either: “This was a better session,” said #44, “even if FP1 was probably a bit better, but we’re lacking a bit of speed. We have to work to try and improve. Recover in the Sprint? I don’t think so, because those ahead of us are fast, all the cars in front will be quicker, so my position will stay the same,” Lewis Hamilton concluded at the end of the Sprint qualifying session which was held at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida.

Ideas and work
After the Sprint and before the ‘real’ qualifying, parc fermé rules will be lifted and the mechanics will be able to work on the cars. Even regarding potential setup improvements, though, Lewis Hamilton sounds doubtful: “Ideas for working on the car? I always have ideas, but I don’t know if they’ll be the right ones. For sure there are some things we can take from today, some setup changes to make based on how the car behaved, and there’s work to do to regain speed for the rest of the weekend.”