F1 Miami Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton let down by pace, Ferrari star blasts 'horrendous' lap

Photo: © IMAGO

Miami Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton reveals Miami pain, Ferrari star blasts 'horrendous' lap

Ferrari endured a poor sprint qualifying ahead of the Miami Grand Prix

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Saturday 2 May 2026 08:51

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After a promising first three races of the season where Ferrari looked best set to challenge early pacesetters Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc got a rude awakening at the Miami Grand Prix.

Heading into the weekend, Ferrari were hoping that a month without a race would have given them ample time to try and catch up with Mercedes especially after a minor rule change threatening to shake up the order.

However, it only took until sprint qualifying for Ferrari's hopes and dreams to once again come crashing down to earth.

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Ferrari beaten by McLaren

While Charles Leclerc did beat Mercedes' George Russell, the good news stopped there. Both Ferraris were hammered by McLaren and with Kimi Antonelli second for Mercedes, it pushed Leclerc down to fourth.

It was even worse for Lewis Hamilton, whose error at turn 17 wrecked his lap and saw him down in seventh behind Max Verstappen and Russell.

Although Hamilton could have seen positives in his time not showing Ferrari's full potential, the seven-time world champion cast a downbeat figure speaking to Sky Sports after sprint qualifying.

Hamilton: Ferrari pace a let down

Hamilton said: "We didn't really know what to expect. I had hoped that we would be better, but yeah, the car didn't feel particularly great."

Pressed by Rachel Brookes on if the Ferrari upgrades brought to the Hard Rock Stadium would work better elsewhere, the 41-year-old didn't sound any more positive.

"I have no idea. I thought we would be stronger than we were today, we'll have to do some work overnight to try and figure out why we're not that quick. And yeah, I was hopeful, come in positive, that we can be much higher. But it was not meant to be."

Despite placing slightly higher in qualifying Charles Leclerc was furious with his display, claiming over the radio to his engineer Bryan Bozzi that his final lap was 'horrendous'.

Ferrari will be hoping they can find more pace throughout the weekend as they look to keep up what had been shaping up to a potential title challenging season.

Heading into Miami, Leclerc was on 49 points in third place in the drivers' championship - 23 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli, while Ferrari were in second place in the constructors' championship, trailing Mercedes by 45 points.