How Lewis Hamilton came close to mirroring Charles Leclerc’s crash before Miami sprint

Lewis Hamilton revealed that he nearly mirrored Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc’s hefty crash before the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix.

Leclerc lost control of his Ferrari on the reconnaissance lap to the grid ahead of the start of the race.

This was when track conditions were at their worst as Leclerc speared into the barriers.

Ferrari opted to send both of their drivers out on intermediate tyres rather than full wets, which proved costly in Leclerc’s case.

Hamilton nearly had a similar crash on his way to the grid, which he explained after the sprint race.

“When we all went out for the [reconnaissance lap] obviously Charles had that moment, I had exactly the same moment because I was right behind him and somehow it just stopped going towards the wall right at the last moment,” Hamilton explained.

“So that was nearly both of us out. To come from that to get these points I’m really grateful.”

Lewis Hamilton impresses in Miami sprint

Despite that scare before the race, Hamilton put in a strong drive in the sprint to finish third.

While Hamilton struggled for pace on the intermediates, a timely switch to the dry tyres propelled him up the order.

Just before the Safety Car, Hamilton overtook arch-rival Max Verstappen for third to finish behind the two McLarens.

It continues Hamilton's impressive start for Ferrari in sprint events, having won the shorter race in Shanghai. 

Explaining the all-important strategy call, Hamilton told Sky Sports: “It was my call but it was coming from the fact I was struggling so much on the inter. I was losing pace. I couldn’t keep up with the guys ahead.

“The tyres had grained front and rear, and I was just a passenger at that point. I could see the dry line and I was like“we’ve got to do something” otherwise I would have lost more places.

“I made the call but maybe I wish I did it a lap before. I am happy I made it. The car felt great after that.”