Podium ‘so close, but still so far’ as Hamilton notes improvements at Ferrari | RACER

Lewis Hamilton says he is feeling increasingly comfortable in the Ferrari, but a podium still seems far away after finishing fourth in the United States Grand Prix at COTA last weekend.

Ferrari has not yet won a race this year and Hamilton is still looking for his first podium. In Austin, Hamilton finished fourth behind teammate Charles Leclerc in third, and although he was more than 13 seconds behind after a slow final lap, the seven-time world champion is seeing progress.

“So close, but still so far…” said Hamilton of a podium finish. “It’s definitely a trend that’s continuing, it’s going in the right direction. I definitely feel better in the car and I’m definitely going to dive deep in the coming days, try to figure out how to get more performance out of the car. Put the car in a slightly better place, but overall pretty decent. The team has done a great job. [in Austin].

“I would just say we need consistency. If I can finish there, or even get a podium at some point, our aim is to finish just ahead of the Mercedes. If I can help the team secure second place among the constructors, that would be a good end to the year.”

Ferrari’s strong performance came at a track where it finished one-two last year, but Hamilton is unsure whether it will be competitive in Mexico City, despite it being the scene of another victory for the Scuderia in 2024.

“It’s really hard,” he said. “From one weekend onwards, Mercedes won the last race, and this race they were behind us. So it’s really difficult to know why that is, and why there are those swings and roundabouts, but we really just hope that our car is better next week.”

Leclerc also has doubts about Ferrari’s chances in Mexico, given the team’s form so far this season.

“We are in a different situation now,” said Leclerc. “I still want to believe that we can win a race before the end of the season. But I think we have to be realistic in our situation and I don’t think we have the car for that.

“I think this weekend [in Austin] It was a perfect weekend for the team and I will be surprised if we can achieve something better until the end of the year. But we will take it race by race and see what we can do.”