Ferrari displayed a poor performance in Austin, with Leclerc finishing in P4, while Vettel retired after eight laps.

Ferrari experienced an extremely tough race in Texas. Indeed, Charles Leclerc had a slow pace during the first stint with the Medium tyres, struggling to keep the rhythm of the Mercedes and Red Bull rivals. Conversely, Vettel suffered from a significant understeer after the start and was constricted to retire in lap 8 due to a defective suspension component in his SF90.

Leclerc, who ended in P4, remarked that the team needs to understand why his Ferrari lacked grip and speed during the race.

“It was a really tough race, especially during the first stint where the front tyres did not feel right. It was difficult to find the grip and we have to look into how exactly that happened.

“The other two stints were a bit better, but not good enough. Our competitors were just too quick, so it was a rather lonely race for me today. It’s a shame for the team that we didn’t finish the race with both cars.

“Congratulations to Lewis for the title. He is a great champion and deserves it.”

P4 and a fastest lap from @Charles_Leclerc

Yesterday wasn’t the easiest of days but we continue to push 👊#essereFerrari 🔴 #USGP pic.twitter.com/WaFWRtI0Mv

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) 4 novembre 2019

Vettel, on the other hand, pointed out how his SF90 had a poor balance particularly in the right hand corners. The four-time Formula One World Champion added that today he had the potential for the podium.

“I am very disappointed that I had to retire, because I was hoping for a good race.

“I had very poor grip on the first lap and had to let a lot of cars by. I struggled to get the car to work, especially in right hand corners, maybe something was already broken on the car.

“Then, after seven laps the suspension failed over the bump in turn 8.”

“At that time, I hadn’t done anything different to the previous laps over the whole weekend.

“I think today we had the potential for a podium, so it’s a shame. Finally, I want to congratulate Lewis for his wonderful achievement.”

Similarly, the Ferrari’s boss Mattia Binotto, underlined how the final result did not confirm Ferrari’s expectation during the race, indicating, how the SF90 had problems, especially with the Medium Pirelli compound.

“First of all, I’d like to congratulate Lewis for clinching yet another World Championship title. It is well deserved and was achieved in style.

“As for our race, we were expecting much more from today.

“Seb had a problem with the right rear suspension, when the upper arm broke at a very early stage of the race.

“We think this issue was probably there from the first lap, but we need to look into it to understand exactly what happened.

“Charles’ race was compromised by his first set of tyres, on which he had no grip at all. We could not understand why he was so slow and off the pace.

“In the second and third stint he had good pace, but it’s difficult to compare it to that of the others, as everyone was in a different tyre situation at that point.

“In the final stint, he then found the car much more to his liking on soft tyres and set the fastest lap.

“We now have a lot to analyse and to understand. We are deeply disappointed as we don’t believe this result mirrors our current performance level.

“There’s something to learn from any bad result and this is what we plan to do now.”