'I had nothing' – Hamilton rues 'tough' Miami race in 'no man's land'

Lewis Hamilton was left to rue a “tough” weekend at the Miami Grand Prix after ending Sunday’s race in P6, with the seven-time World Champion admitting that the team “have to move on” from this point.

Lining up in sixth place on the grid, Hamilton had to take avoiding action when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen spun on the opening lap. The Ferrari driver then fell into a battle with the Alpine of Franco Colapinto, the pair making contact which left Hamilton with some damage.

From there the Briton struggled to make ground during the remainder of the race, crossing the line in seventh – the same position that he finished Saturday’s Sprint in. However, he was later promoted to sixth following a post-race time penalty for team mate Charles Leclerc which dropped the Monegasque down from sixth to eighth.

Reflecting on the event afterwards, Hamilton said: “Tough, a tough weekend, and it was a long race in no man’s land.”

Asked if he had felt beforehand that the performance would be stronger than it proved to be – with Ferrari amongst those to bring an upgrade package to Miami – he added: “I think if the car was in one piece, I felt the car was pretty good on the laps to the grid.

“I felt like we would have been more competitive, so I really felt optimistic for today. I got held up at the beginning when Max spun and I was in the wrong position for that, and then obviously the damage that I got after that then I was just… I had nothing.”

Speaking further to Sky Sports F1, Hamilton shared his disappointment that the Scuderia’s hard work had not paid off in the final result.

“Obviously not a good weekend at all,” he conceded. “Seventh and a seventh. Just in no man’s land on both races, but particularly today with the damage there was nothing I could do.

“Really unfortunate because the team worked so hard, so to come away with a few points is… We have to move on from here.”