'It's a kick in the gut' - Hamilton left frustrated as Mercedes tumble down in Miami Grand Prix

Having described the early-race Safety Car that scuppered his efforts last time out in Azerbaijan as a "kick in the teeth", Hamilton used a similar analogy when assessing Mercedes' performance so far this weekend.

When asked what had been learned from Friday's running, Hamilton said, "It's a great weekend, it's a great place to be, lots of positives, it's just we are not particularly quick. It's a struggle out there. We're trying lots of different things.

The seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton further said, "Free Practice 1 looked quite good, and then we come into Free Practice 2, and the true pace come out. It's just a kick in the gut, so it's a little bit difficult to take sometimes. But it's okay, we will just continue to work on it, we will regroup tonight and try and see if we can make some set-up changes and get the car in a sweeter spot."

Conceding that reaching Qyualifing 3 would represent a positive result, Hamilton added: "As I said, I am trying to stay positive with it. We are working as hard as we can, it's just we desperately need upgrades, that's for sure. [We've] just got to keep our head down for one more race and hopefully, we can start a new path [at the] next race."

Russell expressed similar feelings to Hamilton as he dissected the opening day of action, recalling a similar downfall for Mercedes during his first visit to the Miami International Autodrome.

"It was a similar thing last year," began Russell, who was 1.286 seconds away from pace-setter Verstappen. "We were quickest on Friday and then we were knocked out in Q2 on Saturday. The car just changed a little bit, said George Russell.

As for where he feels Mercedes can be when qualifying arrives, Russell commented: "I think if we get things right there's no reason why we can't be ahead of Ferrari and Aston Martin - that's the aim. (ANI)