Lewis Hamilton is praying Mercedes can cling on to the coattails of Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen at the United States Grand Prix.

Hamilton will start third with Silver Arrows team-mate George Russell fourth after they were both promoted up the grid due to penalties for Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez.

The pair had originally qualified fifth and sixth, each over half a second adrift of Ferrari pole-sitter Sainz.

While Hamilton does believe the Mercedes has better race pace compared to qualifying, he feels it is unlikely it will be enough for them to stay in touch with Sainz and the Red Bull of world champion Verstappen.

"I’m praying it's going to be better tomorrow [Sunday]," Hamilton said.

"I'm really just hopeful that… If we can hold onto the guys [ahead], at least keep them in [viewing] distance, that would be awesome, because then strategy can come into play. But I think they're too quick."

Russell appeared to offer a more optimistic assessment, envisioning plenty of chances for Mercedes to improve on their performance in qualifying.

"It's sort of rare that as a driver you go into the weekend more excited about the race than qualifying, because qualifying is where the car is alive and you're going [at your] fastest," added Russell.

"But [I'm] definitely really excited, because I think there's going to be a lot of opportunities, lots of pit stops and a lot of unknowns – that's good news for us."