Former James Hinchcliffe has backed Scuderia Ferrari to make progress despite a frustrating Miami Grand Prix, insisting that not “all is lost”.
Ferrari introduced a major upgrade package consisting of 11 new components at the Miami International Autodrome, although it failed to score significant points.
Lewis Hamilton’s race was severely impacted by an opening-lap collision with Alpine F1 Team driver Franco Colapinto, resulting in a significant loss of downforce on his SF-26.
Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, looked to be in contention for a podium and briefly led the fourth round of the season before spinning on the final lap.
The spin resulted in Leclerc striking the barrier and damaging his car, which he then limped to the finish. Unfortunately, in order to reach the chequered flag, Leclerc cut several corners, triggering a post-race penalty.
What had looked set to be a modest points haul ultimately became a disappointing sixth and eighth-place finish, although Hinchcliffe remains confident that better results will come.
Asked if Ferrari would have left Miami frustrated, James Hinchcliffe said on the F1 Nation podcast: “I mean, here’s the thing: if you take the Charles Leclerc spin out of it, Ferrari was running in podium contention until the final lap.
“Lewis Hamilton’s race was compromised on lap one by the contact with Franco Colapinto, which caused a significant amount of damage and downforce loss to the car.
“The results will certainly be disappointing, but I think they can still take a lot of positives away from the weekend.
“Was the upgrade package the instant second-per-lap improvement they wanted it to be? No, probably not. But on a sprint weekend, it’s so hard to maximise and optimise everything. So yeah, the result was probably a little disappointing, but I don’t think all is lost there.”
