Hamilton: 'In hindsight we should have gone out earlier'

For Lewis Hamilton, it was disappointing Saturday in Miami. The Mercedes driver had to settle for P13. The Briton seemed resigned to his fate afterwards.

"It just wasn't good enough really, I think at the end there we just didn't get there," said Hamilton, who immediately after the end of Q2 blamed his team for sending him onto the track earlier. On Viaplay, the Mercedes driver was asked about that comment again in the square. He still stands by it, although his tone is a little more measured. "In hindsight we should have gone out earlier, but we didn't," he said.

Board radio Hamilton after Q2

On exiting the pit lane and entering the track, Hamilton encountered a lot of cars. It didn't make it any easier to get the right tyres in the right window. "I lost a lot of temperature exiting the garage and at the end of the lap trying to wait," the 38-year-old Briton explained.

From a thirteenth starting position, the points are within reach, but heading for the podium seems too high. The hot temperatures and high humidity mean it is likely to be a battle of attrition in Miami. "It's going to be tough in the race, that's for sure. But I'll just keep my head down and then we'll see what we can do."