Hamilton explains where he lost ground to Leclerc

Lewis Hamilton said he had lost a lot of points over the last five races and that this was largely due to the car setup. The Ferrari driver said he fell behind teammate Charles Leclerc at the United States Grand Prix and could not match his pace in qualifying or in the race. Hamilton noted that he had been quick in practice in Austin but qualified fifth.

The driver said that in the first two stints of the race he could not rotate the car in slow corners and suffered serious understeer. This allowed rivals to pull away, and Hamilton was left out of the podium battle. The balance improved somewhat in the final stint, but according to Hamilton these adjustments needed to be made at the start of the race.

Ferrari was competitive in many corners in Austin but fell behind Mercedes and Red Bull in straight-line speed. The team arrived at the race with an upgrade package. Hamilton, however, was positive about the pit stops and strategy work.

Hamilton sits one point behind George Russell, who is second in the World Championship standings. The driver said he wants to resolve the setup issues before the Mexico Grand Prix.