Lewis Hamilton is hoping kickstart his season by starting the Miami Grand Prix as high up the grid as possible and he was offered hope by Mercedes’ pace in practice. Team-mate George Russell set the fastest lap time on Friday, with Hamilton two tenths behind in fourth.
Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc have dominated all season and are expected to reign supreme for the inaugural Miami race. And Hamilton is not too confident about turning his fortunes around, despite the Silver Arrows’ practice success.
“Practice is just practice, so everyone’s doing something different,” he said. “I don’t think everyone’s showing their true pace, but [it’s] tough out there with these temperatures.”
Despite finding some extra pace, Mercedes are still struggling with their porpoising issues.
“I think we seem to be quicker here and, later on, they [the engineers] explained to us that we definitely have improved in some way,” Hamilton added.
“I’m not sure where that is, but we still have the bouncing. We haven’t cured it, but I think they’re just, bit by bit, improving the car.”