Lewis Hamilton after sprint qualifying in Austin - Photo: Race Pictures

Hamilton and Leclerc deflated by Ferrari's 'disappearing pace'

01:38, 18 Oct

Updated: 02:42, 18 Oct

byOlly Darcy

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both were both dejected after sprint qualifying at the United States Grand Prix, with Ferrari's huge struggles continuing as their pace "fell away".

"The car is very, very tough to drive. [The pace] just fell away from us."

- Lewis Hamilton

Both Ferraris almost missed out on the final part of sprint qualifying, with Hamilton only scraping through by finishing 0.006 seconds ahead of Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes.

That lack of pace continued into SQ3, with Hamilton finishing in P8, while Leclerc could only finish in P10 to condemn the Scuderia to yet another disappointing performance.

Lewis Hamilton has yet to finish on the podium in a Grand Prix for Ferrari in 2025 - Photo: Race Pictures

"That was definitely not the pace we were expecting," stated an exasperated Hamilton to F1TV after his P8 finish in sprint qualifying.

"I really don't know. It was looking good in practice, and SQ1 was looking pretty decent, also. Then it just started to fall away from us.

"The car is very, very tough to drive, and this just fell away from us. Eight-tenths is just a mountain to climb."

Leclerc bemused as Ferrari falter

After taking P2 in the constructors' championship halfway through the season, there has been a huge falter from Ferrari, dropping back to P3 in the constructors' standings, now 27 points off Mercedes, who sit second with 325 points.

With just six-races remaining in the year, a final push for the second spot behind McLaren looks extremely unexpected, with Leclerc amazed at the lack of pace he currently has behind the wheel.

"We lost time everywhere," explained the Monegasque driver to F1 TV after finishing tenth in sprint qualifying.

Charles Leclerc almost missed out on SQ3 as he struggled to find pace in Austin - Photo: Race Pictures

Leclerc explained he had a clean lap in SQ3. He said: "I don't regret what I've done in my lap much. Maybe a little bit more mileage this morning on the medium. You can fine-tune the car a little bit better. There might be a tenth in that, a tenth and a half, I don't know.

"But it's not enough. I mean, we are so behind now. I'll be very surprised if we find something that will make such a jump. I hope I'm wrong, but unfortunately, for now, it just seems like it's the potential of our car."

"We just need to understand if they understood something that we didn't, but today was a very poor day."

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