Why Lewis Hamilton 'had a great time' despite finishing only P6 at the 2023 F1 Miami GP

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton stated that he had a "great time" at the Miami GP as he carved through the field to finish P6.

The seven-time world champion started the race from P13 and initially failed to make any progress in the early laps. Hamilton found himself stuck in a DRS train behind the likes of Williams, Alfa Romeo, and Haas.

However, he was able to make his way through the field by extending his first stint on hard tires and overcutting his rivals.

In his post-race interview, Hamilton said:

"I had a great time. It was really fun. It was great to be able to come back from 13th because it was bad qualifying yesterday so to be able to take that step forward was awesome. I don’t really know about the strategy, I don’t know if that was optimum, or whether it could have been worse.

Hamilton added:

"It was definitely difficult to start just being in a DRS train with a bunch of cars and trying to get past the Williams [Alex Albon], which is so quick on the straight, was not so easy.

"But eventually, I was able to start making headway, and then once I’d done the stop and I got back out on the [Medium, sic] is when I was able to really start to push. The car came a bit alive midway through the race, and I think to get from 13th to sixth – I’m pretty happy with that."

"It was great to have pace and see the cars ahead and see the progress" - Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton stated that he was happy to witness the pace of the car and see the progress Mercedes made in the race.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the British driver said:

"I really enjoy battling with all the different cars and it was really great at the end to catch the Alpine and overtake the Ferrari. It was great to have pace and see the cars ahead and see the progress. I had a couple of great overtakes as well and that is what I live for.

"It felt great to see the Ferrari up ahead and be catching it bit by bit. If we had qualified where I probably should have qualified I would have had a much easier, smoother day but I prefer days like this where there is a bit of adversity and you have to deliver."

It would have been fascinating to see where Lewis Hamilton would have finished had he qualified a bit further ahead in the grid on Saturday.