Lewis Hamilton expressed concern about Ferrari’s lack of pace in sprint qualifying for the United States Grand Prix, calling the gap to pole position “a mountain to climb.” Hamilton qualified eighth for the sprint, nearly nine-tenths down on polesitter Max Verstappen. Ferrari’s customer team Stake, thanks to a standout lap from Nico Hulkenberg, placed fourth on the grid—almost four-tenths faster than the works Ferrari squad.
Hamilton shared his frustration: “It was definitely not the pace we were expecting. I really don’t know [where the pace went], it was looking good in practice and SQ1 was looking pretty decent also. But then it just started to fall away from us, and the car is very, very tough to drive, so yeah, it just fell away from us. I mean, eight-tenths [from pole] is just a mountain to climb.”
His teammate, Charles Leclerc, also struggled and will start 10th, with both drivers describing a session where promise in earlier running faded as conditions evolved.
The comments highlight Ferrari’s puzzling performance and the challenge they face in matching the leading pace—especially when their customer teams outperform them at crucial moments.
