Charles Leclerc blamed Ferrari's tyre performance after his team fell out of contention for the battle for pole at the United States Grand Prix.
Ferrari had been expected to battle Max Verstappen for pole after Leclerc topped the first two practice sessions, and Lewis Hamilton finished top in Q3. However, Leclerc finished over two tenths down on Kimi Antonelli who took a shock pole position, with the Monegasque driver lining up fourth, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Leclerc said Ferrari have struggled in the past to match rivals' straight-line speed, but felt that his car was in the fight for pole in Austin. However, getting the tyres into the right condition for the final part of qualifying, was something Leclerc pointed the finger at.
“It’s very disappointing because I think there are some other weekends where we’ve been strong in free practices, but then coming qualifying, it’s very clear that the others are just having a lot more in the straights, and it’s very difficult for us to match that,” Leclerc said.
“But I felt like today, it’s a qualifying where we had the potential in the car. But the car also includes tyres. And in Q3, unfortunately, we were not in the right place.”
The Ferrari driver said a small change in tyre temperature had a significant effect on his final qualifying performance. “It was like one or two degrees less in Q3, and for me, it was a huge difference. I was sliding quite a lot already, and that made it very difficult,” he added.
Lewis Hamilton puzzled by Ferrari's qualifying drop-off
Leclerc's teammate Hamilton was left puzzled by Ferrari's drop off, saying he put in a "really good lap" in Q3 and felt that Ferrari was competitive in the fight for pole.
“We did a really good job overnight. The car felt really good in P3, competitive. And then Q1 and Q2 both felt really strong. It felt like we were right there in the fight,” Hamilton told Sky Sports.
"And then the car was just as good as it was, you know, we didn't make any changes, the car didn't flip upside down or anything in Q3. It was a really good lap, but those guys just somehow took another step. I don't know what it is. I mean, we, ultimately we do lose I think we're a few tenths off on the straight as we usually are."