Damon Hill loved what Lewis Hamilton did at the Miami Grand Prix that was the ‘mark of a champion’

Lewis Hamilton once again experienced the highs and lows of racing for Ferrari at the Miami Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion was set to line up on the grid for the Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race directly behind Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.

However, on the way to the grid, Leclerc’s intermediate tyres didn’t get enough purchase off the increasingly wet track, and he was powerless to stop his SF-25 aquaplaning into the barriers.

Lewis Hamilton was therefore Ferrari’s only hope of scoring points on Saturday and he came away with an unexpected second Sprint podium of the season.

Hamilton made the perfect strategy call to switch on to dry tyres during the race, benefitting from Max Verstappen and Andrea Kimi Antonelli colliding in the pit lane and George Russell being surprisingly off the pace compared to his Mercedes teammate.

Qualifying was a different story for the seven-time world champion, and he’ll line up P12 for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Hamilton was frustrated by one tyre call Ferrari made during qualifying, but 1996 world champion Damon Hill spotted one positive for the 40-year-old during the session.

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Damon Hill claims Lewis Hamilton showed the ‘mark of a champion’ during the Miami Grand Prix

Speaking on BBC Sport’s (3/5 9:35 pm) coverage of qualifying, Hill was commenting on Hamilton needing his final lap to progress through to Q2 to avoid an embarrassing early exit and said, “He put pressure on himself and I have to say, when he came back at the end of back straight and hit the brakes at the point where he locked up on the previous run, my heart was in my mouth a little bit for him.

“He would have known that it was a problem that he’d had before and he’d have been praying that he got it right that time.

“He did, and of course, that is the mark of a champion.”

While Hamilton was able to nail his final run in Q1, he couldn’t repeat that feat in the next session.

He was less than a tenth behind Leclerc at the end of Q2, but that was the difference between progressing to the top 10 shootout and falling short.

Haas driver Esteban Ocon made it through, while Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar missed out, despite both racers somehow splitting the two Ferrari drivers.

READ MORE: Damon Hill saw Max Verstappen ‘squirming’ before Red Bull driver proved F1 icon wrong at the Miami Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton hailed by Max Verstappen despite a mixed day at the Miami Grand Prix

Hamilton became the only driver in F1 history to record top-four finishes at all 38 circuits he’s driven with his second podium of the season on Saturday.

The trouble for Hamilton is that his strong results in the Sprint Race are worth far less than if he repeated those feats during the Grand Prix.

That appears to be an issue that Ferrari’s new floor can’t solve and the team are being forced to raise the ride height of the car when more fuel is onboard.

The 40-year-old’s underlying quality can’t be questioned, and he continues to show glimpses of brilliance as Hill pointed out, and the gap to Leclerc appears to be narrowing.

Verstappen pointed out why Hamilton is a multiple world champion at the beginning of the day, and that mutual respect is good to see between two legends of the sport.

Hamilton might wish he was in Verstappen’s Red Bull right now though, which doesn’t appear to fit the team’s narrative that they’re a long way off the pace of constructors’ championship leaders McLaren.