Hamilton says Ferrari front-wing setting was 12 clicks down in Austin

Lewis Hamilton says his Ferrari’s front-wing setting left him wrestling with heavy understeer through the first two stints of Sunday’s United States Grand Prix, a problem he believes cost him a podium chance. He started fifth and finished fourth, while team-mate Charles Leclerc took second.

Hamilton said the car felt good on the lap to the grid but developed severe understeer as soon as the race began. He could not turn it, he said, and the leaders pulled away, costing him eight seconds.

For much of the race, Hamilton said, the front-wing setting was 12 clicks down. Four clicks were added at each of his two pit stops, but he remained four clicks short of the balance he wanted. He traced the problem to practice: his setup was wrong in FP1, went in the wrong direction in FP2, then returned to a better place in FP3.

Hamilton said Leclerc had completed a long run with that setup in FP2, while he had not. In the race, he said, Leclerc had much more front wing; Hamilton could not turn his own car well enough to keep pace.

That was not his only stated handicap. Hamilton started on a used set of softs while the cars ahead had new tyres. He put the new-versus-used difference at about two seconds and said he had more degradation in the first stint, but still called balance his biggest issue.

The car began to turn in the final stint, Hamilton said, and he could then match the pace of cars ahead. He believes the right balance from the start would have put him on the podium, although he did not pass Leclerc. Hamilton also praised Ferrari’s pit stops and strategy.

Hamilton said he now needs to understand how he ended up in that situation, which he said had happened before, including at Silverstone.