Lewis Hamilton left questioning if “tough” 0.8s gap to pole is Mercedes’ true speed

Lewis Hamilton is unsure if the eight-tenth gap to pole position at the F1 Miami Grand Prix is a true reflection of Mercedes’ speed.

Mercedes drivers George Russell and Hamilton could only take seventh and eighth in qualifying in Miami in the team’s latest underwhelming performance.

Both Russell and Hamilton were over eight tenths adrift of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen but the seven-time world champion thinks Mercedes are being hampered by tyre struggles.

Hamilton was a promising third-quickest in Q2 but ended up “nowhere” in the final part of qualifying.

"The track temperature was pretty similar the whole way through and the grip of the track felt really good,” Hamilton said.

"These tyres are so sensitive. Trying to get the tyres to work and deliver the maximum potential throughout the whole lap is something we struggle with.

"Then we had that glimpse of hope in Q2 then in Q3 we were nowhere.”

Hamilton suggested Mercedes’ tyre troubles are potentially masking the genuine speed of their W15 challenger.

"Generally, it's been a much better day,” he added. “We went forwards in the Sprint and then Qualifying, getting into Q3 was positive.

"Q3 just wasn't really great but I'm grateful to get into there.

"For us to be eighth tenths off is tough. We are fighting the Haas and I don't really know if that's the true speed of our car or whether it's the tyres.

"I think there's a lot in these tyres that we are struggling to... we have not been able to use them all year."