After Friday’s practice session for the Miami Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton expressed his disappointment with the performance of the Mercedes W14 car.
Despite finishing in second place behind teammate George Russell in the opening practice session, hopes were high for the team’s performance in Miami.
However, the team fell short in the qualifying simulations of FP2, failing to match the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari.
Hamilton slipped back to seventh place, and Russell ended up in P15. In addition, Hamilton’s car suffered in the low-grip conditions, causing him to have an off-track moment at the Turn 14-15 chicane, among other incidents.
When asked about his takeaways from Friday’s running, Hamilton appeared dejected.
“The same as every weekend, that we’re one second down,” Hamilton told media.
“There are lots of positives, it’s just we’re not particularly quick, and it’s a struggle out there. We’re just trying lots of different things.
“P1 looked quite good, and then to come into P2 and the true pace come out. It’s just kick in the gut.
“So, it’s a little bit difficult to take sometimes, but it’s okay, we’ll just keep on working on it and we’ll regroup tonight and try and see if we can make some setup changes and get the car in a sweet spot.”
Lewis Hamilton went on to provide more details about the specific difficulties he faced during the afternoon session. He suggested that the heat and the balance of the car might be contributing factors.
“I think it’s maybe the heat or maybe just the balance that we have at the moment,” added Hamilton.
Despite the setbacks, Hamilton remained optimistic and hopeful that the team could make some setup changes and find the sweet spot for the car in the upcoming sessions.
“I’m gonna stay optimistic, and I’m gonna stay hopeful that we can get the car in a better place tomorrow and maybe a couple of steps up.
“It feels like, apart from last year we had the bouncing, it generally feels like we’re racing pretty much the same car, and that’s the difficult thing.”
