Ferrari star Lewis Hamilton admitted the team is still at a 'significant' disadvantage to their F1 rivals after being blown away by them in US Grand Prix qualifying.

Heading into qualifying on Saturday afternoon, things looked promising for the Scuderia, with the team having topped all three practice sessions at the Circuit of the Americas, Leclerc leading FP1 and FP2 and Hamilton FP3.

However, when qualifying came around and the times really mattered, Ferrari were found wanting, with Leclerc and Hamilton only good enough for P4 and P5, respectively.

The two Ferrari stars were over two tenths behind pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli and his Mercedes, while both Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar were slightly quicker in their Red Bulls.

Hamilton: Ferrari at disadvantage compared to Mercedes and Red Bull

Hamilton dissected what went wrong when speaking to the media after the session.

"Firstly we did a really good job overnight. Car felt really good in FP3, competitive, and then Q1 and Q3, both felt really strong," Hamilton told Sky Sports. "Felt like we were right there in the fight. And then the car was just as good, we didn't make any changes.

"The car didn't flip upside down or anything in Q3. It was a really good lap. Those guys just somehow took another step. I don't know what it is."

Hamilton continued, stating his belief that Ferrari are still at a significant power disadvantage compared to their rivals.

"I think we're a few tenths off on the straight as we usually are, but no, great lap clearly by Kimi, and obviously the power deficit to the Red Bull and to the Mercedes is still significant," he explained.

"And I think that our car clearly is as good as those there, maybe through all the corners, but we just lose that down the straight."

Hamilton looks ahead to US GP

Despite the lack of speed on Saturday, Hamilton is hopeful the car will still be 'decent' when it comes to Sunday's grand prix.

"Starting position isn't everything, but I mean, it's a very, very hard track to, you know, you have to have really good pace to be able to overtake," Hamilton added.

"But there's a long race tomorrow. There was more deg than anticipated yesterday on the long runs. I think our car hopefully will be decent tomorrow, and we'll do the best job we can to apply pressure."