Ferrari's wait for a first Grand Prix pole position since August 2025 continued in the United States on Saturday as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton qualified outside the top three in a session they had been widely tipped as favourites for. For the first time this season, Ferrari went into qualifying having Ferrari topped all three practice sessions in Austin, on a weekend their car features the team's final significant upgrade of the season. Leclerc finished second fastest to McLaren's Lando Norris in Q1, but only after the McLaren driver took a second run to do so, and then was then back at the head of the field in Q2.
But the Scuderia found themselves on the back foot immediately from the start of Q3 with Leclerc holding a provisional fourth and Hamilton sixth after the first runs of the decisive final phase. Hamilton improved one place to fifth on his final run, but Leclerc stayed where he was, to leave the Ferraris behind the two Red Bull drivers and Mercedes polesitter Kimi Antonelli for the start of Sunday's 56-lap race. Team principal Frederic Vasseur told Sky Sports F1: "Bit of mixed feelings for sure.
The potential was there over the weekend. We had good pace in free practice. "Until the last corner we are fighting for pole but it is like it is." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player On team radio after ending up fifth, 0.276s away from pole, a bemused Hamilton said: "These guys must be turning up for that last Q3 because where did that time go?" Speaking to Sky Sports F1 afterwards, Hamilton said that his car's handling had felt consistent through all three sessions, instead suspecting that the team's straight-line speed deficit had again played a central role.
"We did a really good job overnight. The car felt really good in FP3 - competitive," said Hamilton, who had topped that final practice session. "Q1 and Q2 both felt pretty strong.
It felt like we were right there in the fight and the car was just as good as.. we didn't make any changes, the car didn't flip upside down in Q3. It was a really good lap. "Those guys just somehow took another step.
Ultimately we do lose, I think we are a few tenths off on the straight as we usually are, but a great lap by Kimi and the power deficit to the Red Bull and Mercedes is still significant. "Our car is clearly as good as theirs through the corners but we lose that down the straights." Leclerc, though, offered a different suggestion, believing that the increase in cloud cover, and therefore a small drop in temperatures, for the start of Q3 had made a pivotal difference to their competitiveness. Asked if it was again a case of rivals finding something extra to them at the end of qualifying, Leclerc replied: "This time I think it's slightly different in that I don't think the others have changed anything from Q2 to Q3.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
