Lewis Hamilton reveals 'massive' issues with Ferrari car after just missing out on US GP podium

In the immediate aftermath of the United States GP, a frustrated Lewis Hamilton opened up on the significant problems his Ferrari faced in Texas.

Starting from fifth, the seven-time champion hoped to use strategy to leapfrog himself up the order.

However, the Brit’s chances were torpedoed by misfortune late on, as well a troublesome Ferrari.

Hamilton describes the “massive” issues preventing top three result

A fast-starting Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc jumped to fourth and third respectively at lights out, and were looking to press on and take on Max Verstappen ahead.

However, the Brit’s challenge soon slowed, explaining why afterwards.

“I lost so much time - I couldn't turn the car in the low speed, particularly," he said.

“So Turn 1, Turn 11, Turn 12, 13, 14, 15. Just massive understeer, and so the cars were just pulled away.”

Things began to look up for the Ferrari driver towards the end of the race however. Hamilton was closing down on rival Verstappen, his fresher hard tyres giving him a huge advantage as the grand prix reached its climax.

“I was adjusting my settings,” he explained. “By the time we got to the last stint, I think we got closer to the balance, but we should have started with that at the beginning. So there's lots of learnings. The team did a great job with pit stops and strategy.”

Just as Hamilton almost had Verstappen in his sights with just a handful of laps left to go, Valtteri Bottas pulled his Cadillac to the side of the road with an engine issue. The result was a Virtual Safety Car period, leaving Hamilton with too little time to catch the Dutchman after the restart.

Could the Ferrari man have made it past in the closing stages?

“The VSC wasn't ideal, but I felt like the race was really lost from the first two stints,” he said.

“I think I've lost a lot of points in the last like five races or so, and it's really come from not perfecting the set-up, and that's something I've really got to get on top of, that's really where I've lost out.

“I think performance-wise, I feel like I've been driving well.”

Leclerc upbeat after searing pace in Texas

Charles Leclerc meanwhile was the fastest man on the track in the later stages, and looked like he might have been able to challenge Antonelli for the race win had he started further up the grid.

“I think it was a very good race,” he said. “A bit disappointing with the second place at the end because we are here to win. But at the same time, I feel like we have maximised what we had.

“A good car balance overall, the feeling was great.

“Mercedes had a different vision compared to us or Red Bull, which we'll have to eventually look at - they went for the one stop. We didn't think the one stop was really possible. So interesting, they went in that direction.”

Ferrari had been tipped as the form team for much of the weekend, topping all three practice sessions, but its challenge fell apart after a poor showing in qualifying’s Q3 session. It left team boss Frederic Vasseur to rue what might have been after the team had brought significant upgrades to the car this weekend.

“We were aggressive with the strategy because we had to overtake,” said the Scuderia principal.

“Overall, if we miss something, it's the last two laps in Q3 yesterday. That was the most important lap of the weekend probably, and it's where we had the issue.”