Hamilton thought Ferrari ‘would be stronger’ in Miami

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What is F1 TV?F1 GlossaryGet involved2026 RegulationsNewsVideosBreakingAlbon drops to P19 for Miami SprintHamilton thought Ferrari ‘would be stronger’ in MiamiRed Bull 'still not where I want it to be' – VerstappenRussell explains Miami Sprint Qualifying strugglesPlay2:23‘Everything felt better’ – Sprint polesitter Norris thrilled with McLaren upgrades 1:38‘We were expecting this weekend to be tougher’ admits Antonelli Alexander AlbonFernando AlonsoKimi AntonelliOliver BearmanGabriel BortoletoValtteri BottasFranco ColapintoPierre GaslyIsack HadjarLewis HamiltonNico HulkenbergLiam LawsonCharles LeclercArvid LindbladLando NorrisEsteban OconSergio PerezOscar PiastriGeorge RussellCarlos SainzLance StrollMax VerstappenAll Drivers Hall of FameTeamsChevron DropdownAlpineAston MartinAudiCadillacFerrariHaas F1 TeamMcLarenMercedesRacing BullsRed Bull RacingWilliamsAll TeamsFantasy & GamingChevron DropdownF1 Sim RacingFantasyF1 25F1 Manager 24F1 PredictF1 ClashF1 Members' AreaMenuFIA if(window.f1MobileDetection.iOSSafari) { var meta = document.createElement("meta"); meta.name = "apple-itunes-app"; meta.content = "app-id=835022598, app-argument=https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hamilton-admits-he-thought-ferrari-would-be-stronger-in-miami-sprint-qualifying-as-leclerc-details-issues.66UTtUOc0DsKHBbYyn4d2d.66UTtUOc0DsKHBbYyn4d2d"; document.head.appendChild(meta); } {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hamilton-admits-he-thought-ferrari-would-be-stronger-in-miami-sprint-qualifying-as-leclerc-details-issues.66UTtUOc0DsKHBbYyn4d2d","url":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hamilton-admits-he-thought-ferrari-would-be-stronger-in-miami-sprint-qualifying-as-leclerc-details-issues.66UTtUOc0DsKHBbYyn4d2d","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hamilton-admits-he-thought-ferrari-would-be-stronger-in-miami-sprint-qualifying-as-leclerc-details-issues.66UTtUOc0DsKHBbYyn4d2d","datePublished":"2026-05-01T23:30:24.649Z","dateModified":"2026-05-01T23:30:24.649Z","headline":"Lewis Hamilton admits he thought Ferrari ‘would be stronger’ in Miami Sprint Qualifying as Charles Leclerc details issues","author":"F1","description":"Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have been reflecting on how Sprint Qualifying went for Ferrari at the Miami Grand Prix.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://media.formula1.com/image/upload/t_16by9Centre/f_auto/q_auto/v1777676808/fom-website/2026/Miami/16x9%20double%20split.png"},"isAccessibleForFree":"true","publisher":{"@type":"SportsOrganization","@id":"https://www.formula1.com#organization","name":"Formula 1","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.formula1.com/etc/designs/fom-website/social/f1-default-share.jpg","width":"480","height":"120"}}}Lewis HamiltonCharles LeclercFerrariShow more tagsHamilton admits he thought Ferrari ‘would be stronger’ in Miami Sprint Qualifying as Leclerc details issuesLewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have been reflecting on how Sprint Qualifying went for Ferrari at the Miami Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he thought Ferrari “would be stronger” in Sprint Qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix, with the Briton ending the session in P7 while team mate Charles Leclerc had to settle for P5 despite earlier setting the pace. Things had initially appeared promising for the Scuderia – one of several teams to bring significant upgrade packages this weekend – as the action got underway in Miami, Leclerc having topped the timesheets in Friday’s sole practice session. The Monegasque again went quickest during the SQ2 segment of Sprint Qualifying, but both Ferraris were outpaced in the top 10 shootout by rivals including McLaren, with Lando Norris claiming pole position for Saturday’s Sprint. Reflecting on whether he had felt that the SF-26 was performing as expected during the session, Hamilton said afterwards: “We didn’t really know what to expect. I had hoped that we would be better, but the car didn’t feel particularly great.” The seven-time World Champion went on to say that he had “no idea” if the team’s new package would perform better at other tracks, adding: “I thought we would be stronger than we were today. “We’ve got to do some work overnight to try and figure out why we’re not that quick. I was hopeful coming in, positive that we could be much higher, but not meant to be.” Leclerc also conceded that Ferrari have progress to make when it comes to Qualifying form, with the eight-time race winner explaining the areas where the team have been struggling. “The upgrades are fine, it’s just that everybody brought upgrades,” said Leclerc. “We kind of expected that situation where Mercedes is probably still the car to beat. McLaren did a very big step forward, but I felt like they didn’t optimise their first races of the season, so they were always there but they didn’t put everything together. “On our side, today particularly we’ve struggled with tyres – medium were working very well, on the soft it wasn’t a nice feeling, so on that we’ve got to look at it. We know that in the race pace we are stronger, but in terms of Qualifying there is still some work to be done.” Quizzed on how he sees the rest of the weekend unfolding based on what the squad learned during Friday’s running, Leclerc sounded an optimistic note about the possibilities in race form. “I think in Qualifying tomorrow we can try and fine-tune a little bit and find a bit of performance, but I hope that in the race we can come back in the front,” he explained. “We’ve got the pace to do that, let’s just see if we are able to overtake.” ‘I’m open to everything’ – Alonso gives update regarding F1 futureWatch the FP1 highlights from Miami as Leclerc sets the paceVideoOUR PARTNERSView allDownload the Official F1 AppScheduleDriversNewsTeamsFantasy & GamingCookie PreferencesMoreF1FacebookXInstagramYouTube© 2003-2026 Formula One World Championship Limited