Hamilton frustrated with Mercedes: 'Can't do what others can do'

For Mercedes, it must be something to get angry about: one minute the W15 is a fine car, only to fail to move forward barely an hour later. So many times this season the Mercedes has proved to be something of a Jekyll and Hyde, and on the opening day for the Grand Prix in Miami it was no different. Ahead of the sprint race, Lewis Hamilton is already tempering expectations after his car let him down in the Sprint Shootout.

Hamilton will be starting 12th during Saturday's Sprint Race: "The car felt really good in FP1, and I was happy with the balance," Hamilton said. "Unfortunately, in Sprint Qualifying, the balance changed, and the car regressed. We were close to making it through to SQ3, but we were a decent chunk of being at the front. Starting from P12, the Sprint will be tough for us. I am not expecting a huge amount from there as it is not an easy circuit to either follow or overtake at. We will be trying our best to get the car into the points though."

W15 slipped Mercedes' fingers again

Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes' Trackside Engineering Director, had similar feelings to Hamilton: "We are understandably disappointed with how today unfolded. The team worked through a full programme in FP1 and both drivers were happy with the balance of the car. We opted to make changes that were relatively minor ahead of Sprint Qualifying, aiming to retain that goodness in the afternoon session."

"Unfortunately, and as we have seen on numerous occasions this year, we were unable to take the step that others were capable of come the session that mattered. The spread of the field was close, but we will not look to make excuses as to why both our cars were knocked out in SQ2. We need to do a better job of keeping the car in the right window and delivering the potential that we are showing in earlier sessions."

According to Shovlin, Mercedes' goal is to get both cars into the points in the sprint race, but he realises this is going to be quite a challenge. Moreover, the team will use the mini-race to better understand the W15 ahead of qualifying and the Grand Prix later this weekend.