Miami Grand Prix Sees Lewis Hamilton Hit Rock Bottom: "We're Dying"

Lewis Hamilton's hopes for a strong performance at the Miami Grand Prix took a hit after Friday's FP2 after finishing seventh on the timesheet - almost a second behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen. The seven-time world champion admitted that it was his team was "dying", despite starting the day on a high note with the driver leading the timesheet after FP1.
Describing how the W14 felt, he revealed that while it's not porpoising like last year, it doesn't feel any faster, with his optimism being short-lived.
"We're not particularly quick and it's a struggle out there," Hamilton lamented after the practice.
"We're trying lots of different things. P1 looked quite good and then to come into P2 and the true pace came out - it's a kick in the guts.
"It's difficult to take sometimes but it's OK, we'll keep on working on it and we'll regroup tonight and see if we can make some set-up changes and get the car in a sweeter spot."
Despite the setback, Hamilton remained optimistic about the team's chances for qualifying. However, his words lacked conviction, reflecting the team's struggles this season.
"I'm trying to stay positive with it and we're working as hard as we can. It's just we're dying, desperately need those upgrades for sure.
"Just got to keep our head down for one more race and then hopefully we'll start a new path next race."
"I don't have expectation. The car, I just hope I can get it into a better place tomorrow. I hope we can be in Q3 and if we can be mid-bunch of that top 10 that would be great," he said.
Mercedes' difficulties at the Miami GP are not new. Last year, the team also struggled in the race, with Russell suffering a Q2 exit and Hamilton only managing sixth place in qualifying. This year, the team is facing similar challenges, with Hamilton struggling to find a balance in the W14.
"It feels like, apart from last year we had large-scale bouncing, it generally feels like we're racing pretty much the same car and that's the difficult thing," Hamilton explained. "Maybe it's the heat or maybe it's the balance we have at the moment."
Despite the challenges, Hamilton remains hopeful that the team can improve their performance in qualifying.
"I'm going to stay optimistic and I'm going to stay hopeful that we can get the car in a better place tomorrow and maybe be a couple of steps up," he said.
However, with the team struggling to keep up with their rivals, Hamilton's optimism may be misplaced. The Mercedes team will need to make significant improvements if they hope to compete at the front of the grid in the Miami Grand Prix. With upgrades coming to the W14 for Imola, we don't have long left to see if this will relinquish them from their spell of poor performance or not.