“Getting into Q3 was positive” - Lewis Hamilton takes a sly jibe at Mercedes amidst qualifying P8 in 2024 Miami F1 GP

Lewis Hamilton hailed his qualifying performance as a positive sign in Miami, in contrast to the last two race weekends. Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after qualifying, the Brit felt the tire behavior in the warm temperatures was a challenge.

Qualifying into the top 10 after getting knocked out of Q1 in the previous two weekends has been a positive, according to Lewis Hamilton. However, both Mercedes drivers qualified on a set of medium tires in the final qualifying session after managing the soft tires became a struggle. Several drivers including Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo complained about the soft tire behavior which made it difficult to optimize during qualifying. Although the British champion qualified for eighth position on the grid, he was out-qualified by his teammate George Russell.

Explaining his qualifying performance to Natalie Pinkham of Sky Sports, Lewis Hamilton said:

“The track temperature was pretty similar the whole way through and the grip of the track felt really good. These tyres are so sensitive. Trying to get the tyres to work and deliver the maximum potential is something we struggle with. Then we had that glimpse of hope in Q2 then in Q3 we were nowhere.”

"Generally, it's been a much better day. We went forwards in the Sprint and then Qualifying, getting into Q3 was positive. Q3 just wasn't really great but I'm grateful to get into there. For us to be eighth tenths off is tough. We are fighting Haas and I don't really know if that's the true speed of our car or whether it's the tyres. I think there's a lot in these tyres that we are struggling to... we have not been able to use them all year."

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Lewis Hamilton satisfied with Mercedes’ Saturday performance compared to Friday in Miami

Lewis Hamilton believes that Saturday's qualifying performance for Mercedes was much better than their performance in the sprint. In the sprint race, the Brit got caught up in a melee with Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Lando Norris. He also spent the majority of the race battling Kevin Magnussen. While the Danish driver was slapped with 35 seconds of a penalty, the Mercedes champion was also imposed with a 20-second penalty in the sprint for speeding in the pitlane.

Speaking in a team press release, Lewis Hamilton summarised his Saturday in Miami saying:

“Overall, it's been a much more positive day than yesterday. That said, these tyres are so sensitive and trying to get them to work consistently lap-to-lap is a challenge. The track temperature and grip was similar throughout Qualifying but we still struggled to deliver the maximum potential on each lap. We had that glimpse of what was possible at the end of Q2, but we couldn't deliver it in Q3. It's an area we are focused on improving.”

“I gave it everything in the Sprint; it was a tough battle out there. Contact is never intentional at the first corner, and I went for a gap. It closed quickly though and several of us connected. After that, I was fighting hard to get past the Haas of Magnussen, and I enjoyed the racing. The penalty was unfortunate, and it was a shame that it cost us that final point.”

Lewis Hamilton has scored only 19 points so far in the last five race weekends, while his teammate has racked up a total of 33 points. Mercedes are currently fourth in the championship standings with a total of 52 points, behind their customer team McLaren, and trailed closely by Aston Martin.