Hamilton says Ferrari has now improved its F1 processes

Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari has improved its processes in Formula 1, following a satisfying qualifying performance at the United States Grand Prix.

Hamilton qualified in the top five for the eighth time out of 19 grands prix so far this year, with his deficit to second-placed Lando Norris and team-mate Charles Leclerc just over one-tenth of a second.

“We made some improvements in terms of our processes going into this qualifying session,” said Hamilton, who has been acclimatising since joining the Scuderia this season after spending 12 years at Mercedes. “We tried something different and it really, really worked, so I'm really proud of the team for being open and making the changes.”

Asked if the improvements included not queuing for an excessively long time in the pitlane, the Briton replied: “It's just how we execute the session. It's how we communicate, it's the calm approach, it's the timing that we go out, it's the temperature of our tyres, all those sorts of things. We just executed it much better altogether.”

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images

Hamilton admitted his performance at the Circuit of the Americas was both encouraging and frustrating, as he felt like he should have been able to go a tenth faster and move up to second position.

“I definitely had that tenth within the lap,” the seven-time world champion reckoned.

“Set-up-wise, I had a big oversteer yesterday throughout [sprint] qualifying, which made it really difficult. In this session, I started with massive understeer, so I was basically trying to dial that out.

“It wasn't until the last run I had the [right] front wing [setting], but you kind of needed that in the first run so you could get that confidence in the car.”

Earlier on Saturday, Hamilton took fourth position in the sprint following a move on Leclerc in Turn 12, after the Monegasque went off in the high-speed esses.

“I had a lot of understeer in the race, so highly unlikely I would have been able to get close and overtake in the race given that we were both on the same tyre,” he pointed out. “I think he had a lot more front wing than me, so highly unlikely. But he made the mistake at the end of the day and I was able to capitalise [on] it.

“He did luck out at the start by getting past because I was in the middle of the crash and he kind of drove around it, so he was fortunate to pass me in the first place.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

“It's really quite difficult to overtake here without your tyres just overheating.”

Asked whether he could take his maiden Ferrari podium in today’s race – his Shanghai sprint victory doesn’t count as a podium per se – Hamilton replied affirmatively. But he’s aware he will face tough competition, with frontrunners Max Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri also starting from the first three rows of the grid.

“I've got to get past George tomorrow,” Hamilton said. “That's key because they're fast, as always. He was giving Max pressure, so they're always around.

“Mercedes had an upgrade of recent, which we haven't. So for us to be where we are, given that's the case, I'm really grateful. I think the car balance should be better tomorrow.”