Lewis Hamilton admits Ferrari upgrade hope faded fast in Miami Sprint Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton arrived in Miami with reason to believe Ferrari might finally be ready to turn promise into a genuine front-running threat. By the end of Sprint Qualifying, that optimism had given way to familiar frustration.

Ferrari brought a meaningful upgrade package to the Miami Grand Prix and initially looked capable of fighting at the sharp end. Charles Leclerc topped the only practice session of the Sprint weekend, giving the Scuderia encouragement that its new parts had placed the SF-26 closer to the front after a difficult opening phase of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

But the picture changed when Sprint Qualifying reached SQ3. Leclerc could only manage fourth, nearly four tenths adrift of Lando Norris’ pole time for McLaren, while Hamilton was left further back in seventh, around three tenths behind his teammate. For Hamilton, the issue was simple. Ferrari had expected more.

“We didn’t really know what to expect, I’d hoped that it would be better but yeah, the car didn’t feel particularly great,” Hamilton said after Sprint Qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton at the 2026 F1 Japanese GP | Scuderia Ferrari Press Office
Asked whether Ferrari thought the upgrade package would deliver a bigger step, the seven-time world champion admitted the team now has work to do before Saturday.

“I have no idea. I thought we would be stronger than we were today,” Hamilton continued. “We’ll have to do some work overnight to try and figure out why we’re not that quick.

“I was hopeful coming here, positive that we would be much higher but it’s not meant to be.”

Ferrari promise fades when soft tyres arrive

The disappointment was sharpened by how strong Ferrari had looked earlier in the day. Leclerc appeared comfortable in FP1 and carried that pace through the early part of Sprint Qualifying, only for the car to lose its edge when the field switched to the soft tyre for the final shootout.

That left Ferrari in an awkward position. The upgrades appeared to be working in some areas, but not enough to keep pace with a McLaren team that made a much more visible jump in performance. Norris took Sprint pole, Oscar Piastri placed third, and Ferrari suddenly found itself behind a direct rival that had spent much of the early season chasing.

“The upgrades are fine, it’s just that everybody brought upgrades,” Leclerc explained. “We kind of expected that situation where Mercedes is probably still the car to beat.

“McLaren did a very big step forward. I felt like they didn’t really optimise their first races of the season. They were always there but they didn’t put everything together.

“On our side, today particularly we struggled with tyres. The medium was working very well but on the softs it wasn’t a nice feeling. So we’ve got to look at it.

“We know that on the race pace we are stronger but in terms of qualifying, there is still some work to be done.”

Hamilton and Ferrari left chasing answers

That final point gives Ferrari some encouragement before the Sprint and the Grand Prix itself. If race pace is genuinely stronger than qualifying pace, Hamilton and Leclerc may still have a route back into contention across longer runs.

But on a Sprint weekend, recovery time is limited. With only one practice session, Ferrari must now rely on overnight analysis rather than extended track running to understand why the SF-26 lost its feel on the soft tyre.

For Hamilton, seventh on the Sprint grid is not where he expected to be after Ferrari’s promising start to the weekend. For Ferrari, the bigger concern is that another upgrade package has created questions as well as answers.

Miami began with hope. By Friday evening, it had become another test of whether Ferrari can turn potential into performance when the pressure is at its highest.