Lewis Hamilton has confirmed that a costly setup error made alongside Ferrari earlier in the weekend ultimately destroyed his chances of securing a podium finish at the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
Having topped the final practice session on Saturday, immense optimism surrounded the seven-time world champion at a venue where he boasts five previous victories. However, that momentum vanished during qualifying as he could only manage fifth on the grid and struggled for early race pace.
Although the raw speed of his SF-26 improved significantly in the latter stages of the race at COTA, Max Verstappen managed to hold on to third place, crossing the finish line just a second ahead of the charging Briton and denying him a hard-fought trophy.
Reflecting after the chequered flag, Hamilton pointed directly to massive understeer during the opening stints as the primary culprit. When asked if the Virtual Safety Car cost him a shot at attacking, he noted, "It’s all shoulda, woulda, coulda. To be honest the VSC wasn’t ideal but I felt like the race was really lost in the first two stints. I lost so much time. I couldn’t turn the car, in low-speed particularly. So Turn 1, 11, 13, 15, just massive understeer."
Looking ahead to the closing stages of the 2026 season, Hamilton emphasized that sorting out car balance issues in upcoming rounds like Mexico is now an urgent priority to prevent further lost points.
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