Lewis Hamilton indicated tyre temperatures were to blame for his inability to take his Mercedes into the qualifying top 10 shootout at the 2023 Miami GP.
A dismal session in Florida means Hamilton languishing in 13th position on the starting grid for the race on Sunday, his lowest ever starting position in a US Grand Prix.
“It started out okay,” Hamilton told the press after qualifying. “There was a couple of decent moments throughout the session, we generally have struggled to have the true pace to get into Q3 today.
“We just right on the cusp of maybe not getting in. And then right at the end, we just went out too late. And was at the back of seven cars and I started my lap with just not enough temperature in the tyres.”
Hamilton hope for the race
Despite such a poor starting position for the 2023 Miami GP, Hamilton is hopeful some changeable weather can help Mercedes climb up the order and gather some valuable points.
“I’m hoping that Florida’s heavens are going to open,” Hamilton continued, “and we’re going to have some rain.
“I don’t know how lucky I’ll be. But the rain would make it a little bit more exciting. [With] the short DRS this year, the overtaking might be worse tomorrow. Like it was the last race.
“But I think I set the car up in a fairly decent place. It’s not gonna be easy to overtake the cars ahead of me, but you know, maybe on strategy I can progress, and try and get into the top 10.”
