Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari's deficit to United States Grand Prix Sprint pole position shows the team has "a mountain to climb."
Hamilton will be the lead works Ferrari on the grid in Austin, taking eighth place, but was 0.892s slower than pole-sitter Max Verstappen, with the SF-25's best effort being a 1:33.035 compared to Verstappen's 1:32.143.
To rub further salt into the Ferrari wounds, customer team Stake will start fourth through a stunning Nico Hulkenberg lap, which was 0.390s faster than the works team.
Hamilton's team-mate Charles Leclerc was an equally disgruntled 10th on the grid, as the seven-time champion explained how the session had got away from Ferrari.
"It was definitely not the pace we were expecting," a dejected Hamilton explained.
"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."
Get the latest F1 news from RacingNews365 directly in your Google feed! Click on the link below and you’ll see your favourite F1 website appearing even more often. That way, you’ll never miss any news, analyses, interviews, or exclusives.
Follow RacingNews365 on GoogleMost read
In this article
Never miss a thing from the Formula 1 season! Add the 2026 F1 schedule to your calendar at the touch of a button. Subscribe below and put the dates and times of every race directly on your PC or smartphone, so you don't miss a second from the new season.
Download the F1 calendar Download the F1 calendar
A variant with just the race and qualifying is also available.
Click here to download it..
Join the conversation!