Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both suffered a drop in performance in qualifying but the Ferrari drivers disagree on why it happened.

Ferrari must have been feeling bullish about claiming pole position for the United States Grand Prix when Charles Leclerc topped FP1 and FP2 and Lewis Hamilton dominated FP3 timing sheets.

Instead, it was Kimi Antonelli who claimed pole. Ferrari looked quick in the early stages of qualifying, but suffered a significant drop in performance in Q3 which left team members scratching their heads in confusion.

Here's your starting grid for the United States Grand Prix 🏎️💨 Who are you backing for the win in Austin? 🤔

Charles Leclerc has his own theory about Ferrari’s qualifying struggles

Over the team radio, Hamilton raised suspicion about Ferrari’s rivals turning up their engine in Q3 and providing a boost in performance.

The British driver insisted his Ferrari SF-26 continued to perform well, but others took a step forward. Charles Leclerc disagreed and explained his theory that Ferrari’s performance dropped while their rivals maintained their pace.

“This time I think it’s slightly different in that I don’t think the others have changed anything from Q2 to Q3. Where we have lost is on ourselves and that is mostly the tyres,” Leclerc told Sky Sports.

“The out lap was extremely difficult. There was a bit more cloud in Q3. We lost one or two degrees of track temp and, for us, it was night and day different. Already from the out lap I felt I was having lots of difficulties. 

“It’s a shame that it happened in Q3 because I strongly believe that we had the pace to be fighting in front but unfortunately not today again.”

Charles Leclerc still confident Ferrari can win the United States GP

Leclerc and Hamilton will start Sunday’s Grand Prix from P4 and P5 respectively.

While that is below the expectations set after practice, it is still in contention for victory.

Leclerc was quick to point out that he has already won on this track from this starting position.

“The last time I think I started from fourth here I won, so I hope we can do the same tomorrow,” Leclerc added.

“Just a good start and then where you position your car and trying to anticipate what is going to happen [is key] because there are many different scenarios that can happen in such a turn one with very wide entry.

“Then if you are doing the right choices you can get a lot more than any other track, so I’m looking forward to that.”