Lewis Hamilton has pledged to work with his Ferrari engineers to ensure his car is using the correct set-up after a mistake on Friday in Austin.
During Friday practice for the United States Grand Prix, team-mate Charles Leclerc topped both sessions, the first time a Ferrari has done so in 2026, with Hamilton sixth in FP1 and then only fourth in FP2.
He was 0.503s and 0.615s slower in the two sessions, respectively, although he did not set his quickest FP2 lap on the first lap of the soft tyre run after a mistake at Turn 1 forced him to abandon the effort.
Reflecting, Hamilton described how the bumpy nature of the Austin circuit had not left him "comfortable" in the SF-26.
"It wasn’t the easiest day," Hamilton began.
"We tried a different direction with the set-up, but I wasn’t comfortable in the car, especially over the bumps.
"Charles showed there’s pace there, so we need to understand how we can get the car into a better place on my side.
"Practice is always a good opportunity to try new things and build our understanding, and we’ll work through it with the team and see where we can improve."
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Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding as they look ahead to this weekend's United States Grand Prix! Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari being urged to have a deep conversation is a big discussion, as is all three believing Max Verstappen is the favourite this weekend.
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