Lewis Hamilton misses shootout for pole with Ferrari ‘struggling big time’ in Miami

Lewis Hamilton has said Ferrari is “struggling big time” after he only qualified 12th for the Miami Grand Prix, exiting in Q2 for the first time for the Scuderia.

His teammate Charles Leclerc was eighth on an afternoon to forget for Ferrari, with Hamilton only 0.058secs off the Monegasque’s pace in the second session but not quick enough to make it into the shootout for pole.

Max Verstappen set the quickest time, just pipping Lando Norris to pole, with rookie Kimi Antonelli continuing a dazzling debut season as he qualified third-fastest.

“We will keep trying. We are only six races in but we are struggling big time,” Hamilton told Sky Sports after qualifying.

“We are trying our hardest not to make big set-up changes but no matter what we do it's so inconsistent every time we go out.”

It marked a dramatic fall back down to earth for the seven-time champion, who finished third in Saturday’s sprint after an inspired decision to pit early on a changeable day of weather in Florida.

“We have problems with brakes, problems with this instability that we are struggling with and we are generally not quick enough. Just to get through to Q3 is tough for us,” he continued.

“Once you are on the backfoot, it's hard to pick up the points.”

Leclerc cut a similarly frustrated figure after he finished eighth. It was a poor day for him: he failed to start the sprint after aquaplaning into the wall during a torrential downpour earlier on Saturday, with the race delayed due to poor visibility on the track and resuming when conditions improved.

Conditions stayed fine and dry for qualifying but the Ferrari continued to struggle.

"There was something strange in qualifying, something off,” Leclerc said. “I was completely out of the window of the car for some reason.

“The feeling is not great. But it's the way it is. It's just frustrating because when you do your best and the best is P8, with a Ferrari it hurts. I didn't do any mistakes... we are just not fast enough.”