Lewis Hamilton in final lap Ferrari scare at US GP

Lewis Hamilton faced a terrifying end to the US Grand Prix with Ferrari as the F1 champion’s hard work threatened to come undone.

The 40-year-old made an excellent start to Sunday’s race in Austin, crucially getting past George Russell for fourth and keeping his team-mate Charles Leclerc within his sights.

After his pit stop however, Hamilton was instructed to lift and coast in his Ferrari, amid fears that driving faster could cause excessive wear to the plank underneath the champion’s SF-25.

Having to be content with fourth place, Hamilton was on the cusp of losing the position during the closing stages of the race, where the gap between himself and Oscar Piastri suddenly disintegrated.

It later materialised that Hamilton suffered from a front-right tyre puncture, which saw the McLaren close down on is rival and near DRS range.

Thankfully for Hamilton, he greeted the finish line with Piastri still behind him in fifth, but if there had been one more lap the champion would have been vulnerable up the hill and into Turn 1.

Hamilton delves into US GP scare

Reflecting on the US GP in the media pen on Sunday, Hamilton explained the issue he faced at the end of the race, although the Brit was not sure where the problem first arose.

“I’m not really sure. I went into Turn 5 and it felt like I hit something. And all of a sudden, I had massive understeer and I thought that I had a puncture," he said.

“So I brake into Turn 11 and the thing wouldn’t stop and I was like, ‘Jeez, what’s going on?’

“But somehow I managed to hold it in the last couple of corners.

“I had huge understeer in the last… like, I thought the front wing was broken or something happened with the tyre. It was so close.”

Despite a confident weekend behind the wheel of his Ferrari, Hamilton earned an unwanted statistic and broke the record for the driver who has gone the longest without a podium for the team.

The record was previously at 18 races and held by Didier Pironi for 43 years, but Hamilton’s 19th race with Ferrari failed to yield a podium finish once again.

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