Lewis Hamilton flips off Colapinto in unseen Miami GP footage

The seven-time world champion’s race was compromised by early contact with Colapinto after a strong start. As a result, the Briton’s SF-26 sustained damage which, while not severe enough to force a retirement, significantly affected his lap pace and left him unable to match the front-runners.

He later managed to reclaim the position from the Argentine’s Alpine, with cameras catching him raising his middle finger at his rival on the back straight in the heat of the moment, shortly after the incident. Despite not having a fully competitive car, the seven-time world champion still managed to finish sixth and ahead of his team-mate, who was hit with a heavy 20-second penalty that dropped him to eighth.

Summing up his weekend after the race while speaking to GPblog, the Briton admitted it had been a very disappointing outing, finishing in no man’s land in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix behind the other frontrunners. He pointed to the damage sustained during the race as a key factor, explaining that it left him with little he could do despite the team’s efforts, resulting in a meagre points haul.

Speaking to GPblog and other media on Sunday, he also pointed to two further areas he needs to address ahead of Canada, stressing that a change in approach will be required as the current preparation is not delivering results.

He highlighted a clear deficit on the straights, estimating a loss of three to four tenths purely from straight-line speed, an issue that is expected to persist until it is resolved, especially with another power-sensitive track coming up.

Hamilton had put in significant work on the simulator in the build-up to the Miami Grand Prix, despite not being a fan of it, but admitted it did not translate into better performance. He underlined ongoing correlation issues, explaining that while the simulator allows for detailed preparation and setup work, the car often behaves very differently once on track, making that preparation less effective.