‘Ultimately it’s the driver’ – Lewis Hamilton can’t blame Mercedes for Miami qualifying debacle, says expert

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Modified May 13, 2023 4:33 PM IST

F1 pundit Peter Windsor believes Lewis Hamilton’s horrific qualifying session at the 2023 Miami GP was partly his fault. The seven-time world champion couldn’t complete a lap fast enough to enter Q3 and had to start the main race in 13th position.

On his YouTube channel, Windsor explained that it was partly Hamilton’s fault for not finishing in the top ten during the qualifying session in Miami. He recounted the incident between Kevin Magnussen and Hamilton, where the Danish driver slowly took the final corner of the circuit, forcing Hamilton to squeeze his car sideways and slam into the wall.

This could have shaken Lewis Hamilton’s focus in Q2 as he worried about whether the car was up to it:

“I think Lewis’ problem was Q1, when he hit the wall as Magnussen went ridiculously slow, and Lewis kind of just avoided hitting him and hit the wall on the right side. He did a very good recovery lap at the end of Q1 to get into Q2, but I’m not convinced in his mind that he was able to lean on the right forward as much as he would have had he not didn’t hit the wall. Maybe it was there somewhere in the background, even though they (the race engineers) told him everything was fine.”

Although Windsor understands Mercedes made a mistake with Lewis Hamilton by putting him in a lot of traffic, he believes the veteran driver could have asked the team to let him go early so he could get a free track.

“Part of that is Lewis, you know. It’s like, you know, Leclerc isn’t telling Ferrari to put him on slicks at Monaco. Ultimately, it’s the driver, and, you know, if Lewis really thinks he wants to be on track a little earlier to avoid that because he’s been there, he should force the issue with the engineers and say, ‘I want to be there now.'” Lewis Hamilton urges Mercedes to be better with timing after horrendous qualifying at 2023 Miami GP

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 at the Miami GP, Lewis Hamilton explained how precise Mercedes needed to be to get him a fast lap for the qualifying session:

“When you’re quick, you can be more seated, more relaxed; you can go there at the last minute and take your time. You know you’ll probably get to Q3 easily. We knew it was very difficult, and there was a 50/50 chance that we could get into Q3, so we have to be better with our timing.”

The seven-time world champion was out in Q2 as he trailed behind and couldn’t keep the tire temperature up for a fast lap.

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