Hamilton: Mercedes car improving but 'not sure why'

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Lewis Hamilton admits he was left a little confused by a strong performance in P1 and P2 saying the car felt similar to previous weeks

Lewis Hamilton says he is “still struggling” with his car despite a strong practice showing from Mercedes at the Miami Grand Prix on Friday that has raised hopes of a genuine three-team battle for Sunday’s much-anticipated street race.

Mercedes have been lacking pace all season but appear to finally be in contention following make-or-break upgrades in America, with George Russell topping Practice Two on the opening day in Miami.

Hamilton placed fourth, two-tenths off his young Mercedes team-mate Russell. The seven-time world champion says he can see the car is improving “bit by bit” but does not believe all of the issues are solved.

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Karun Chandhok analyses the action from the Miami GP Practice Two

“It feels similar to me,” Hamilton said. “We seem to be quicker here, and later on they were explaining to us that we definitely have improved in some way – and I’m not exactly sure why that is.

“We still have the bouncing, so we haven’t cured it, but bit by bit we’re improving the car.

He added: “There are definitely positive elements to take from today.

“I’m still struggling with the car – George looked great out there – but we’re trying a lot of different things. We’ll converge and hopefully improve.”

Russell: We’re not getting too carried away

Russell also seemed dumbfounded at the car’s sudden improvement but added he will not get carried away, saying: “I don’t really understand it to be honest, why we’ve hit the ground running.

“We always knew coming into the weekend that the conditions should suit us better, because we’ve been struggling with tyre warm-up. For sure that’s played a big factor, but the car’s working well.

“It’s only Friday, we’re not getting too carried away.”

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George Russell was feeling optimistic after both Mercedes cars performed well on the first day of the Miami GP

Russell, who currently sits fourth in the drivers’ championship, three spots above Hamilton in seventh, added: “It’s definitely been a really productive day for us and probably the most productive Friday we’ve had

“You have races where things work in your favour and others where everything works against you. Imola wasn’t the strongest circuit for us but so far from what we see the car is working well around Miami.

“Practice means nothing… we go again tomorrow.”

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Christian Horner says he knew ‘it was only a matter of time’ Mercedes were able to sort some of their issues out after a good showing from both cars in P1 and P2

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is wary of Mercedes’ improvement in Miami, saying: “I have been saying since pre-season it is only a matter of time before they sort themselves out. You can see that is starting to happen.

“The characteristic of this circuit obviously helps as well but you can see they are starting to get on top of their issues and they are looking competitive.”

The full weekend schedule on Sky Sports F1

Saturday, May 7
2pm: W Series Qualifying
5.45pm: Miami GP Practice Three (session starts 6pm)
7.10pm: W Series Race One**
8.15pm: Miami GP Qualifying Build-up
9pm: Miami GP Qualifying*
10.45pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*

Sunday, May 8
3.20pm: W Series Race Two
7pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Miami GP Build-up
8.30pm: THE MIAMI GRAND PRIX*
10.30pm: Chequered Flag: Miami GP Reaction*
11.30pm: Ted’s Notebook*

*Simulcast on Sky Sports Main Event (qualifying and race build-up simulcast from 8.30pm and 7.30pm respectively)
**Simulcast on Sky Showcase