Lewis Hamilton opens up about big problems with the Ferrari car after just missing the podium at the US GP.
Right after the United States Grand Prix, a frustrated Lewis Hamilton shared what went wrong with his Ferrari in Texas. Starting from fifth place, the seven-time champion hoped to move up the ranks with a clever strategy. But late in the race, bad luck and car problems hurt his chances.
At the start, Hamilton and his teammate Charles Leclerc quickly moved up to fourth and third, aiming to catch Max Verstappen ahead. But Hamilton soon ran into trouble. He explained, “I lost a lot of time because I couldn’t turn the car well at low speeds, especially in Turns 1, 11, and 12 through 15. The car kept sliding, and others pulled ahead.”
Things improved for Hamilton near the end. With fresh hard tires, he closed in on Verstappen as the race neared its finish. He said, “I changed my car settings, and by the last part of the race, the balance felt better. We should have started with that setup. The team did a great job with pit stops and strategy.”
Just as Hamilton was about to catch Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas stopped his car due to engine trouble, causing a Virtual Safety Car. This took away the time Hamilton needed to make a move after the restart.
When asked if he could have passed Verstappen, Hamilton said, “The safety car wasn’t ideal, but honestly, the race was mostly lost in the first two parts. I’ve lost a lot of points over the last few races because I haven’t nailed the car setup, which I need to fix. I feel like I’ve been driving well though.”
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc was the fastest on track late in the race and might have challenged for the win if he had started higher. He said, “It was a good race, though a bit disappointing to finish second because we came to win. But I think we got the most out of what we had. The car felt good overall.”
Leclerc also noted, “Mercedes went for a one-stop strategy, different from us and Red Bull, which we didn’t think was possible. It was interesting to see them try.”
Ferrari had looked strong all weekend, leading all three practice sessions. But a poor Q3 qualifying session hurt the team’s chances. Team boss Frederic Vasseur reflected, “We had to be aggressive with our strategy to overtake. If we missed anything, it was the last two laps of Q3 in qualifying. That was the most important part of the weekend, and that’s where we had the issue.”