Lewis Hamilton suffers WORST US qualifying session of his career as he starts a miserable 13th for Miami GP after Q2 KO

LEWIS HAMITON will start in a disappointing 13th place for the Miami Grand Prix after blasting his Mercedes team.

And in more drama, a late red flag caused by Charles Leclerc’s slide into the barriers meant that F1 championship leader Max Verstappen could only qualify down in ninth place.

To make matters worse for the Dutchman, his team-mate and championship rival Sergio Perez took pole.

Hamilton was eliminated during the second session and failed to make the top-ten shootout.

And he blamed his team for putting him out on track at the wrong time as he got caught in traffic, which meant he was unable to set a quick lap time.

He told them over the radio after getting the boot from qualifying: “We got out way too late guys.”

He later added: “It was a difficult session. We’re not that quick so we really needed perfect laps. It was difficult to get into a rhythm for us.

“There were a couple of decent moments in there where I thought the car was good but then we were at the back end of the top ten.

“I was the last one in the pack. I tried to get temperatures into the tyres but I was in a queue of cars and everyone slowed down into the last corner so I lost all temperature in the tyres and I couldn’t do the lap.

“We need to be better with our time. It is done. I will get my head down and see what I can do from 13th to God knows where.”

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Perez had taken provisional pole but just when Verstappen was on his flying lap, Leclerc spun off, causing the race stewards to stop the race.

And with one minute and 36 seconds left of the session, the stewards decided not to restart.

Fernando Alonso qualified in second and Carlos Sainz will line up in third.

Kevin Magnussen completes the second row of the grid in fourth.

Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell will start in sixth.

McLaren had another underwhelming qualifying session with both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri eliminated in Q1.

Both drivers had struggled all weekend and Norris will line up on 16th on the grid while Piastri was 19th.

It was a huge embarrassment for the team’s boss, Zak Brown, who was hosting Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos as a guest of the team.

Meanwhile, Logan Sargeant, Williams’ US racer, who comes from Miami, qualified in last place for his home race.

Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk