Hamilton left puzzled as Ferrari’s early promise fades in qualifying: “I don’t know what it is”
Kieran is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs and feature content across the F1 calendar. An NQJ-qualified journalist with more than a decade of experience, he has previously written for publications including MailOnline, the Manchester Evening News and the Eastern Daily Press.
Lewis Hamilton was left searching for answers after Ferrari’s strong pace in practice failed to carry over into qualifying for the United States Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion will start tomorrow's race in fifth, one spot behind teammate Charles Leclerc. However, that was a disappointing outcome for Ferrari who topped all three practice sessions at the Circuit of The Americas, and had been expected to contend for pole position.
Hamilton had been down on pace compared to Leclerc on Friday but was happy after topping FP3 on Saturday. He felt his car had been in contention for pole position and despite a "really good lap" could only put his Ferrari on the third row, with Kimi Antonelli and the two Red Bull drivers leading the way.
“We did a really good job overnight. The car felt really good in P3, competitive. And then Q1 and Q2 both felt really strong. It felt like we were right there in the fight,” Hamilton told Sky Sports.
"And then the car was just as good as it was, you know, we didn't make any changes, the car didn't flip upside down or anything in Q3. It was a really good lap, but those guys just somehow took another step. I don't know what it is. I mean, we, ultimately we do lose I think we're a few tenths off on the straight as we usually are.
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"But great lap clearly from Kimi and obviously the power deficit to the Red Bull and Mercedes is still significant. Our car is clearly as good as theirs in the corners but we just lose (out) on the straights."
Hamilton "will give everything" to beat Mercedes and Red Bull
Despite the setback in qualifying, Hamilton is still hopeful that Ferrari can beat Mercedes and Red Bull in tomorrow's Grand Prix.
"Starting position isn't everything but is a hard track to overtake. It's a long race tomorrow there was more degradation than anticipated yesterday in the long runs," he said.
"I think our car will hopefully be decent tomorrow. We will do our best job, I think to beat the Red Bulls and Mercedes will be challenging for sure, but we will give it absolutely everything."
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