MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Arriving at the Miami Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton expressed frustration over his sluggish beginning to the Formula 1 season with Ferrari.
His performance showed minimal progress, and Ferrari instructed Hamilton to yield seventh position in Sunday’s race to his teammate Charles Leclerc. Hamilton ended up finishing in eighth place, marking his poorest result since being excluded from the second event of the season.
Despite this, the seven-time Formula 1 titleholder maintained an optimistic attitude following the competition.
I mostly liked the race,” Hamilton stated. “Although we weren’t as fast as we’d have liked this weekend, overall, I felt it was a stronger outing for me personally. Even though the final outcome doesn’t fully reflect it, my positions ranged from 12th to seventh.
Hamilton momentarily believed he would enjoy an exceptional day when switching to medium tires caused him to feel “like the car truly came alive, and I was incredibly hopeful at that point.”
Nevertheless, Ferrari couldn’t compete with McLaren Racing, which dominated.
1-2 alongside Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
I believe this past weekend didn’t go well…we can’t be content with finishing seventh and eighth,” stated Ferrari’s team leader Frédéric Vasseur. “Starting from positions eight and twelve makes it nearly unfeasible to climb up and compete against the vehicles in front of us. Additionally, McLaren seemed to be on an entirely different level. Our speed allowed us to contend with Red Bull and Mercedes, yet unfortunately, not with McLaren.
This season, Piastri boasts four wins — including three consecutive ones — whereas Norris has only managed one victory, highlighting McLaren’s strong start with five triumphs out of the initial six races. Despite being a four-time reigning F1 champion, Max Verstappen has secured just one win so far. Meanwhile, both Ferrari and their drivers, Hamilton and Leclerc, have not been able to mount much of a challenge yet.
Compounding problems for Ferrari in Miami was a crash on Saturday when Leclerc lost control of his car as he headed out to the track for the sprint race. He wasn’t able to compete in the sprint and Ferrari had to hustle to even have him ready for qualifying.
Hamilton finished third in the sprint race but then failed to carry the momentum into qualifying. His only complaint after the race, though? Not the team orders to give Leclerc position, but in how slow Ferrari was to communicate the plan.
It appeared that Ferrari informed Leclerc about something before the team notified Hamilton. As a result, when Leclerc initially tried to overtake him, it was unsuccessful. After Hamilton received the information, he allowed Leclerc to go ahead on the following lap.
“That isn’t effective teamwork. I’ll leave it at that,” Hamilton stated via the Ferrari team radio.
Following the race, Hamilton mentioned that he felt quite speedy when Ferrari requested the positions be switched.
I felt incredibly fast at that point, yet the decision wasn’t made swiftly enough,” Hamilton stated. “During that period, you just want things to move faster. There’s nothing wrong between me and the team or Charles; actually, I believe we all can improve. However, our focus should be on enhancing the performance of the car.
Leclerc stated that he realizes Ferrari’s situation in Miami will create an intriguing controversy in Formula 1, yet the real issue is simply that the car isn’t performing well enough.
We need to improve, that much is clear,” he stated. “Today didn’t go as we hoped and certainly fell short of reaching our full potential.” He continued, “The team needs to come together and elevate our performance.
He acknowledged that similar to Hamilton, Leclerc is also displeased with Ferrari’s performance this season. Up until now, his highest placement has been third place at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix held last month.
There’s already frustration because I fought for P8 and didn’t see any progress,” Leclerc stated. “I was having a tough time with the car, which added to my dissatisfaction, and everything else just compounded it.
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AP auto racing:
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Jenna Fryer, from The Associated Press
