On board his Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton began a rather laborious job during qualifying for the United States Grand Prix. Fifth at the end of Q3, the Briton constantly modified the settings of his Ferrari, hoping to finally find the right balance for performance on the Circuit of the Americas. After the session, the seven-time world champion explained how he approached his afternoon in Texas.
“From the start, I suffered from significant understeer, I had to struggle with the balance of the car, he detailed. I came into the pits, added downforce on the wing. I came out, came in again and added more downforce. I just kept adding downforce. With that constant understeer, it made things really difficult. Ultimately, I think my last attempt was the closest in terms of balance to what I’m looking for. If I could have had that car from the start of Q1, to be able to build on that, that’s what I would have needed.”
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As usual, it seems reasonably difficult for Lewis Hamilton to set a real numerical target ahead of the Grand Prix. That said, his Free Practice stints on the hardest tires, in the middle of a race simulation, had put him in first place in the standings before the start of the tests on the softest tires in the Pirelli range.
Without aiming for a fantastic comeback, the teammate of Charles Leclerc was in any case pleased with the reaction of his team after a decidedly missed sprint qualification the day before. “Overall, it remains an improvement for the team, he added. Well done to all the mechanics and engineers who made a big step forward today. It’s great to be in the top five. I would have liked to be higher, but I’ll push tomorrow to see if we can get there.”
Fourth in the Sprint, the first winner of the United States Grand Prix in F1, 13 years ago, can he get back on the podium this Sunday? The answer will be at 21 p.m. (French time) at the start of the race.