<\/p>\n
Leclerc had topped both Friday practice sessions at the Circuit of the Americas, while Hamilton set the fastest time during final practice.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, Ferrari lost ground to Mercedes and Red Bull during qualifying despite completing updates to the floor, sidepod inlet and diffuser.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hamilton finished 0.044 seconds behind Leclerc and said the car had performed well throughout the session. \u201cMy car felt really good. The lap was solid, so the others were just quicker,\u201d Hamilton said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hamilton attributed Ferrari\u2019s deficit primarily to weaker straight-line speed, particularly on the approaches to Turns 1 and 11.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ferrari\u2019s rivals had also improved chassis performance during recent races, narrowing an advantage previously enjoyed by the SF-26. \u201cRed Bull has closed up on downforce,\u201d Hamilton said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cMercedes took a three-tenths step with an upgrade a couple of races ago. Mercedes is starting to understand how to use that and is now matching us through the corners.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hamilton estimated that Red Bull\u2019s power advantage could be worth between 0.3 and 0.5 seconds in some areas. \u201cIf we had the same power, we would be right there in the battle,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cI think we would probably be on the front row.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Leclerc said Ferrari had possessed sufficient pace for a stronger result but struggled to manage tyre temperatures during the final qualifying session. \u201cIt\u2019s very disappointing because I think we had the potential in the car,\u201d Leclerc said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe car also includes the tyres, and in Q3, unfortunately, we were not in the right place.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Leclerc struggled with sliding during the preparation lap, leaving the tyres outside the optimum operating range. \u201cAs soon as we are a tiny bit outside the window, we pay a heavy price,\u201d Leclerc said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Despite starting behind the leading Mercedes and Red Bull cars, Hamilton remained hopeful that Ferrari could use strategy and the opening lap to gain positions. \u201cYou have to be realistic,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cWe\u2019re fourth and fifth, and it\u2019s very hard to overtake here.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hamilton said opportunities could nevertheless emerge during the run to Turn 1 and through alternative pit-stop strategies.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–F1\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13784,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-48975","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Ferrari Drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will start the United States (US) Grand Prix fourth and fifth after strong practice pace failed to carry into qualifying.","published_date":"","news_description":"Ferrari Drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will start the United States (US) Grand Prix fourth and fifth after strong practice pace failed to carry into qualifying.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48977,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48975\/revisions\/48977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=48975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}