Lewis Hamilton aiming to “knuckle down” after Miami sprint slicks risk pays off

Lewis Hamilton wants to build on his sprint race podium in Miami as Ferrari showed signs of improvement despite “going nowhere” on the intermediate tyres, which sparked a gamble for an early switch to slicks.

The seven-time world champion qualified seventh for the second sprint race of 2025, having secured a surprise victory at the previous one at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Hamilton struggled in recent weeks and cut a downbeat figure following another poor result last time out in Jeddah, but he joined the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on the podium after a timely change of tyres in the Miami sprint.

Having seen team-mate Charles Leclerc crash out on the intermediates on his way to the grid, Hamilton hung on to make the delayed start but was well off the pace of the leading pack before opting to pit for soft tyres ahead of those in front of him.

His resulting pace triggered a host of stops and, in the ensuing carnage of crashes and spins, he drove through to take third place.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

“I really, really did struggle on the inters. I think everyone was struggling on them and I just, I made that call at the end. I was like, ‘I’m coming in because I was going nowhere,” he said.

“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, you know, big congrats to McLaren as always.

“I was so happy, really, really happy with the results to get up here, because it wasn’t looking very good through qualifying.

“Obviously, we were a chunk off these guys and then to get onto the inters, I was just sliding around.

“I had the Williams behind me, I think, and there was another one behind him who was most likely to get overtaken by. So, I was like, I’ve got to roll the dice.

“I was full lock through turn 12 and full lock through turn 16 and it still wasn’t turning, so I was like, let’s just go for it. Honestly, I should have done it maybe a lap or two before that.”

Ferrari will be hoping the surprise podium can act as a catalyst for better performance – with Hamilton calling for the team to keep pushing to improve.

“Honestly, I think the fact is so far, we’re not extracting everything. I don’t think we’re extracting everything from the car,” he said.

“That’s what we need to work on to extract the full potential of the car. I think we have good downforce. I don’t think we’re on the same pace as the McLarens, but I think we should be fighting a little bit closer, perhaps, to the Red Bulls and to McLaren. So I think there’s a lot of elements that we need to elevate.

“Every moment counts and I think it’s definitely been not so great, obviously, since China. But looking at it, you can definitely see perhaps why we’ve been in the position that we’re in.

“I think coming into this weekend, have made some changes, but we have more to do in order to be fighting more consistently at the front. So we just need to knuckle down. And I do believe that we can get some better results.”

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Photos from Miami GP – Sprint