Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc qualified a disappointing fourth and fifth for the United States Grand Prix.

After Leclerc set the pace in FP2 and Hamilton was quickest in FP3, Ferrari looked like pole contenders – if not favourites.

But the weekend followed a familiar trajectory as the pace of the SF-26 ebbed away in Q3, leaving just over two-tenths off polesitter Kimi Antonelli and Hamilton four-hundredths further back.

Charles Leclerc only ahead of the two Aston Martins in US Grand Prix speed trap

Speaking after qualifying, via The Race, Hamilton once again emphasised the scale of Ferrari’s straight-line disadvantage. Throughout the season, he has cited it as a key factor holding the team back.

He hinted that Ferrari have a stronger chassis than Red Bull, who qualified second and third with Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, but that’s not enough to offset their losses on the straight.

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“Some places it’s three to five tenths [relative to Red Bull],” he said. “Maybe it’s four tenths. It’s pretty impressive. I don’t know if you’ve seen the overlays: into turn one, ours starts dipping and theirs just keeps going. So that’s hard to compete with.

“If we had the same power as them, we would be right there in the battle. I think we could probably be on the front row. But we know that’s the case, so we try to make the most of it.”

The telemetry shows that Hamilton was actually a tenth faster than Antonelli until he reached the longest straight on the circuit between turns 11 and 12. By the time he hit the brakes, there was a three-tenth swing in favour of the championship leader.

That in itself explains most of the 0.276-second deficit, though Hamilton also made a small error at the final corner.

The speed trap, located before turn 12, has both Ferraris in the bottom six. Leclerc, clocked at 331kph, is only quicker than the two Aston Martin drivers – and by a small margin of 3kph.

Given that Honda are lacking 70 horsepower relative to the top manufacturers, this is a damning comparison for Ferrari. Hamilton was 6kph quicker than Leclerc but still 9kph off the top.

Variations in car set-up and energy deployment influence top speeds, but it’s still noteworthy that the top four cars in the speed trap are all Mercedes-powered, with Verstappen fifth.

Ferrari have upgraded their engine twice thanks to the ADUO catch-up mechanism but it appears they will have to wait until 2027 at the earliest to make meaningful gains.

Until then, Hamilton and Leclerc are effectively fighting with one hand tied behind their backs.