Hamilton thrilled with P3 in Miami Sprint after ‘tough year so far’ while Leclerc blames himself for early crash

There were contrasting emotions at Ferrari after an eventful Sprint at the Miami Grand Prix saw Lewis Hamilton climb from P7 to P3 thanks to a well-timed strategy call, while Charles Leclerc was forced to watch on following a crash en route to the grid prior to the event getting underway.

Heavy rain had fallen at the Miami International Autodrome ahead of the 100km dash, resulting in Leclerc sliding into the walls before the action had started. The conditions subsequently triggered a red flag after the initial formation lap.

READ MORE: Norris wins chaotic Miami Sprint from Piastri and Hamilton after late Safety Car and multiple incidents

With the track increasingly drying when the event eventually got going, Hamilton was amongst the first to make a pit stop to switch from intermediate to slick tyres – a move that paid off as the seven-time World Champion made gains.

While various incidents played out across the final laps – with Max Verstappen dropping down the order owing to a 10-second time penalty for an unsafe release, while a late Safety Car was called following a crash for Fernando Alonso – Hamilton ultimately took third behind the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, a result he was delighted with after some struggles during the first races of the campaign.

“Man, I’m so happy with that,” the 40-year-old said. “It’s been a tough year so far but to have… I never thought it was going to rain in Miami. It’s the first time we’ve all been on track in the wet here and what a race it provided us, so a big thank you everybody.”

Reflecting further on the dramatic Sprint – and his decision to pit earlier than some of his rivals – Hamilton continued: “I really did struggle on the inters, I think everyone was struggling on them.

WATCH: Verstappen handed penalty for pit lane collision with Antonelli in eventful Miami Sprint

“I made that call at the end and was like ‘I’m coming in’ because I was going nowhere so take the risk, take the gamble, and it paid off. I wish we had another couple of laps to give these guys [Norris and Piastri] a bit of a fight, but congrats to McLaren as always.”

Leclerc, meanwhile, could only think about what could have been following his pre-Sprint crash, with the Monegasque taking responsibility for the error afterwards.

“It’s frustrating, but at the end of the day I can only blame myself for it,” the 27-year-old explained. “Going out with inters in those conditions was probably not the best choice, but on the other hand these things shouldn’t happen.

“I felt a bit like a passenger because it’s in a straight line, and it’s not like you are pushing in a straight line. I was just cruising until I completely lost control of the car because of the aquaplaning and I had no way out of it.

HIGHLIGHTS: Norris pips Piastri in incident-filled Miami Sprint with help from late Safety Car

“Very disappointed. It’s the way it is, now I need to move on because there’s a Qualifying in a few hours which I hope I’ll be able to take part of, and if I do then I hope we can recover from a difficult beginning of the day.”

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