Lewis Hamilton has lamented the lack of balance he experienced for most of the United States Grand Prix after falling short of the podium. Ferrari hoped to get both their drivers into the top three by the end of the 56-lap race in Austin, Texas, putting both cars on a two-stop strategy which left them with fresher tyres in the final stint of the race.
Charles Leclerc used the extra grip to full effect, as the fastest man on track in those laps at the end to recover to second, but Hamilton missed out on joining him in the post-race ceremony. He too enjoyed strong pace in the final stint of the race and made light work of dispatching Isack Hadjar after emerging from the pit lane sixth. He also got the better of Lando Norris but ran out of laps before he could challenge Max Verstappen for third place.
VSC disruption and frustration
Hamilton finished just one second behind the Red Bull and might have got the better of his old rival if not for a disruptive virtual safety car period in the final stages. It was caused by Hamilton's old team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who suffered a problem on his Cadillac with four laps to go.
That neutralised the race for nearly two laps and gave Verstappen the breathing room he needed to secure the podium without too much fuss. The Dutchman admitted after the race that the VSC potentially saved him from slipping down to fourth.
Hamilton was left frustrated but, when asked about that VSC period after the race, made it clear he felt too much time had been given up earlier in the Grand Prix. "The VSC wasn't ideal, but I felt like the race was really lost from the first two stints," he told Sky Sports.
Balance issues in slow corners
Hamilton had complained over the radio earlier in the race that he was struggling to rotate the car, especially in slower sections of the Circuit of the Americas. He explained: "I lost so much time… I couldn't turn the car, in the low speed particularly. I had massive understeer, and so the other cars were just pulling away."
Hamilton had enjoyed a strong launch off the line, overtaking Hadjar by the end of lap one, as did Leclerc. The Monegasque also got past Verstappen and the seven-time world champion was alongside his old nemesis at one point, but had to pull out of the move.
He then didn't have the pace through those slow corners to challenge in those earlier stages and said he and his Ferrari engineers got the car balance all wrong. He added: "I was adjusting my settings. By the time we got to the last stint, I think we got closer to the balance. But we should have started with that balance in the beginning."
Leclerc's positive race
Naturally, Leclerc was the happier of the two Ferrari drivers having been able to enjoy more performance from his car. He had been critical of the team for their qualifying performance, which was a huge disappointment given they had dominated practice, but was happy with how his car felt on race day.
He said: "It was a pretty good race. Unfortunately, we weren't able to aim for the win, which was the goal, but ultimately it was a positive race. We had good pace.
"The first stint was a bit more difficult. Kimi [Antonelli] went for a one-stop strategy and that wasn't really part of our plan. During the race, we couldn't fight against Max. It was a fun race with some great battles, both at the start and afterwards with Lando and Max.
"I [overtook Verstappen] at the start in the first sector, but I really enjoyed it. I had a bit less battery afterwards to protect myself from Max, but I had a good feeling with the car. I knew I could fight and that's what we did."
