Even Lewis Hamilton Was Stumped About What Happened On His Bizarre Final Lap Of USGP
Lewis Hamilton survives a mysterious late-race issue in his Ferrari to edge out Oscar Piastri for P4 at the United States Grand Prix in Austin.
In all honesty, this year's United States Grand Prix was not one of the more exciting Formula 1 races you'll see. At least at the sharp end of the field.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen dominated practically the entire weekend, and while Charles Leclerc and Ferrari gave us a little early spice with a soft tire gamble at the start, it wasn't enough to hold off McLaren's Lando Norris.
However, there was some serious excitement on the final lap that came out of nowhere, and it involved Ferrari and McLaren's other drivers, Lewis Hamilton and championship leader Oscar Piastri.
On the final lap of the race, Hamilton appeared to be in no man's land in a solid P4. He was nine behind Leclerc for the final spot on the podium and five ahead of Piastri.
All he had to do was cruise through the lap, and P4 was his.
However, his SF-25 suddenly lost a ton of pace, and this allowed Piastri to gain on him. The seven-time champion said on the radio that he thought he had a puncture.
He managed to get his car across the finish line, but with Piastri just over a second behind through the final corner.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton held on to P4 after a final lap scare that almost saw him get overtaken by McLaren's Oscar Piastri, despite starting the lap with a five-second lead. (Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
However, after the race, Hamilton revealed that not only was the scare not the result of a puncture, but he and Ferrari weren't sure what had happened at all.
"I don't really know. I was in Turn 5, and it felt like I hit something. All of a sudden, I had massive understeer, and I thought it was a puncture," Hamilton said after the race, according to Motorsport.
"I braked at Turn 11, and the car just wouldn't stop. I thought, ‘Damn, what's going on?' In the end, I managed to hold on through the final corners, but I had massive understeer. I thought the front wing was broken or that something had happened to a tire. It was really close with Piastri."
Strange indeed.
Ferrari has to be breathing a sigh of relief that it didn't put a damper on a solid race for the team. They'll need to figure out what the deal was quickly because F1 heads down to Mexico City this weekend, and they certainly won't want another late scare like the one they had in Austin.