‘Night and day different’ – why did Ferrari's pace evaporate again?

Key points

• Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth and fifth for the United States Grand Prix.
• Ferrari had topped all three practice sessions in Austin before losing pace in Q3.
• Leclerc blamed a drop in track temperature for tyre warm-up problems in Q3.

Ferrari's wait for a first Grand Prix pole position since August 2025 continued at the United States Grand Prix on Saturday, as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton qualified outside the top three in a session the team had appeared favourites for. The team had topped all three practice sessions in Austin for the first time this season, on a weekend their car features its final significant upgrade of the season.

Leclerc finished second fastest to McLaren's Lando Norris in Q1 and led the field in Q2, but in Q3 he held provisional fourth and Hamilton sixth after the first runs. Hamilton improved to fifth on his final run, while Leclerc stayed fourth, leaving the Ferraris behind the two Red Bull drivers and Mercedes polesitter Kimi Antonelli for Sunday's 56-lap race.

What the drivers said

Hamilton said his car's handling had felt consistent through all three sessions and suspected a straight-line speed deficit played a central role. "Our car is clearly as good as theirs through the corners but we lose that down the straights," he said.

Leclerc offered a different explanation, believing a decrease in track temperature for the start of Q3 caused tyre warm-up issues. "We lost one or two degrees of track temp and, for us, it was night and day different," he said.

Until the last corner we are fighting for pole but it is like it is.

— Frederic Vasseur

Race prospects

Leclerc felt Ferrari could still repeat his Austin victory from the same starting berth two years ago. Hamilton was more cautious given the pace of the cars ahead but expressed hope Ferrari could still be a threat over the full race distance.