Ferrari's Pole Drought Goes On as Leclerc and Hamilton Miss the Top Three

Ferrari went into qualifying in the United States as one of the teams most likely to end its long wait for a Grand Prix pole. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were widely seen as the pair best placed to do it. Instead, both finished outside the top three, and the team's pole drought, which dates back to August 2025, continues.

The result is what makes the session stand out. A single lap is where the car's full potential is tested, and when expectations are this high, a big drop on Saturday invites immediate questions. The headline's phrase "night and day different" suggests a sharp swing in performance rather than a small shortfall. The source material does not give a detailed technical explanation for the change, so the reasons remain open.

For Leclerc and Hamilton, qualifying outside the top three means starting race day behind the front runners and working through the field instead of leading from the front. That makes strategy and early-race pace more important than they would have been from a pole position.

For Ferrari, the next step is to pin down what changed between the expected pace and the qualifying result. Until the team can explain that gap, its pole position drought will remain one of the weekend's central storylines.