From on top of the podium to not making it to the final session of the qualifying in a week’s time is precisely the agony Lewis Hamilton is facing currently. The Brit has been delivering such embarrassing results since the start of the 2022 season all thanks to the poor state of the Mercedes challenger. The 7X champ’s embarrassment in Miami was similar. However, the shocking qualifying result in Miami wasn’t due to the state of the car. In fact, it was more to do with the team’s strategic blunder. A blunder that is accumulating plenty of backlash.

Hamilton shockingly qualified 13th for the Miami GP making it his worst-ever qualifying result in the American subcontinent. Most would assume it was because of the struggling state of the car all weekend. However, in Ted Kravitz’s journal, as quoted by Express UK, the Sky reporter pointed out the horrendous blunder made by the Brackley outfit.

“Mercedes haven’t been quick all weekend, or at least since FP1,” said Kravitz. “[Hamilton said] ‘left it too late there, guys’. What that was about – they left it too late getting him out of the garage in Q2. It meant that he found himself in a little bit of traffic, which meant he couldn’t prepare his tyres the way he wanted.”

“That meant the lap was compromised from then on. You see? It all leads into the other. Everything has to be perfect,” concluded the Sky reporter.

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Hamilton was quick to point out this blatant error in strategy in his post-qualifying interviews. However, the Brit isn’t giving up hope. He is expecting to get lucky during the race.

Lewis Hamilton praying to the Gods for some Luck and Excitement for the Miami GP race

Qualifying in 13th on a narrow track like Miami isn’t ideal for Hamilton. The low overtaking opportunities and the shortcomings of the W14 will make climbing up the grid all the more difficult. However, Lewis is hoping for some luck and excitement in the race.

“Hoping that the Florida heavens are going to open and we’re going to have some rain. I don’t know how lucky I’ll be, but the rain would make it exciting,” said Hamilton. “I don’t think any of us have driven in the rain here so we’d have two laps to the grid and we’d have to learn as we go, which is exciting.”

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Luck favors the bold and Hamilton is looking to make this race exciting by using all his years of experience on a wet track. Let it rain in Miami for the weekend’s second-year anniversary and it’ll be an overtaking party.

If not, in theory, a man can hope and that’s exactly what Hamilton is doing.