Last year the Ferrari drivers lined up on the second row of the grid at Imola.
They may have been flattered by Oscar Piastri’s penalty on that occasion but the SF-24s were good enough for top five starting positions on merit.But today Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were stung by the team’s first failure to reach Q3 for almost a year. Leclerc’s 1’15.604 was not only well off the 1’14.970 he set in qualifying, it was slower than he went in final practice.
Lewis Hamilton, who took 12th on the grid, one place behind his team mate, said he was “devastated” neither of their cars reached Q3 on home ground.
“I’m very disappointed,” said Leclerc. “Especially at home, at such a special grand prix for the team, it just hurts. It would have hurt anyway, whatever track, but here it hurts even more. I have no words about our performance today.”
Sector times
Ferrari could draw no consolation from their sector times, where they ranked in the same places they find themselves on the grid.
Former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jnr was the only driver among the front-runners who put all his best sector times together on a single lap. Unfortunately for him that lap was in Q2. However had he produced the same time in Q3 he would have only gained a single place on the grid.
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| P. | # | Driver | S1 | S2 | S3 | Ultimate lap (deficit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | 23.677 (4) | 25.747 (1) | 25.226 (3) | 1’14.650 (+0.020) |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | 23.495 (1) | 25.929 (4) | 25.231 (4) | 1’14.655 (+0.049) |
| 3 | 63 | George Russell | 23.674 (3) | 25.815 (2) | 25.201 (2) | 1’14.690 (+0.117) |
| 4 | 4 | Lando Norris | 23.819 (8) | 25.901 (3) | 25.134 (1) | 1’14.854 (+0.108) |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 23.663 (2) | 26.150 (8) | 25.385 (6) | 1’15.198 |
| 6 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | 23.870 (9) | 25.941 (5) | 25.491 (11) | 1’15.302 (+0.129) |
| 7 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | 23.800 (6) | 26.233 (13) | 25.315 (5) | 1’15.348 (+0.157) |
| 8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | 23.814 (7) | 26.153 (9) | 25.428 (9) | 1’15.395 (+0.102) |
| 9 | 23 | Alexander Albon | 23.738 (5) | 26.159 (10) | 25.503 (12) | 1’15.400 (+0.073) |
| 10 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | 24.003 (12) | 26.055 (6) | 25.405 (8) | 1’15.463 (+0.047) |
| 11 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | 23.941 (10) | 26.183 (11) | 25.389 (7) | 1’15.513 (+0.091) |
| 12 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | 24.039 (14) | 26.188 (12) | 25.445 (10) | 1’15.672 (+0.093) |
| 13 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 24.012 (13) | 26.091 (7) | 25.592 (13) | 1’15.695 (+0.077) |
| 14 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | 24.002 (11) | 26.389 (17) | 25.689 (14) | 1’16.080 (+0.180) |
| 15 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | 24.154 (16) | 26.262 (14) | 25.781 (19) | 1’16.197 (+0.721) |
| 16 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | 24.132 (15) | 26.366 (15) | 25.743 (18) | 1’16.241 (+0.277) |
| 17 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | 24.160 (17) | 26.391 (18) | 25.705 (15) | 1’16.256 |
| 18 | 30 | Liam Lawson | 24.297 (18) | 26.369 (16) | 25.713 (16) | 1’16.379 |
| 19 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | 24.341 (19) | 26.540 (19) | 25.732 (17) | 1’16.613 |
Teams’ performance
It could easily have been even worse for Ferrari, as they only narrowly out-paced the likes of Alpine and Racing Bulls. Three teams lapped slower at Imola this year than they did last season, and Ferrari was the furthest down on their pace.
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Field performance
This is likely to be the final grand prix at Imola for the foreseeable future. The quickest lap on this configuration of the track was set when F1 returned during the Covid-hit 2020 season. That event was run to a unique, two-day format, with a single practice session before qualifying.
The next two events were affected by rain. The same was even more true in 2023, when the race was called off due to flooding. However, under the post-2022 ‘ground effect’ regulations, F1 cars have not achieved the same performance at Imola as before.
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2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
- Antonelli was tiring from home race at Imola attention by Friday – Wolff
- Ferrari struggling to recreate set-up which “worked well” in Shanghai – Hamilton
- Verstappen told Red Bull to use Tsunoda before “hold him up” call
- ‘Saturdays have been mine for years but for some reason it’s drifted away’ – Norris
- “Plan C?”: Why McLaren only got their strategy right for one driver at Imola
Alonso (@alonshow)
18th May 2025, 1:44
I wonder how significant this “ultimate lap” time is. Drivers routinely change the setup of the car between one lap and the next as they look for extra performance. A slight increase in downforce, for example, would make the car faster in sectors with heavy cornering and slower in other sectors. On top of that, other factors, like changes in wind direction, can also affect significantly sector times. It can easily be one of these factors, rather than driver performance, what makes sector times quicker or slower. Overall it looks like a quite unreliable metric.
S Arkazam
18th May 2025, 10:09
And in addition there is often a significant difference in how one attacks the first sector. This was clearly visible this weekend with the C6 tyres which cannot handle a full lap on attack mode.
And finally the luck/chance of having a tow on certain straights.
BasCB (@bascb)
18th May 2025, 13:32
I think here there is a bigger issue with tyres not being able to cope with all sectors at the fastest pace as S Arkazam mentions.
Alonso (@alonshow)
18th May 2025, 21:16
Thank you for pointing that out, I didn’t even know that these tyres can’t cope with a single lap of top performance. I guess that’s another of the many factors that make this concept of ultimate lap time rather meaningless.
David
18th May 2025, 10:33
This is what happens when you downgrade your drivers and make a major mechanical change to your car in the last year of the regulations. Ferrari have completely lost sight of how to win.
Poor Fred didn’t sign off on either of those changes but he’s probably going to end up losing his job because of them. And he made such a promising start as TP.
David BR (@david-br)
18th May 2025, 12:37
Replacing a 7-time champion for Sainz clearly isn’t ‘downgrading’, though it’s a cheap line for those apparently keen to project their own lack of similar success onto someone famous. You could argue that it might destabilize the team. But on evidence Ferrari weren’t really achieving what they want (championships) anyhow so some destabilization was necessary. The Hamilton-Mercedes partnership wasn’t instantly successful either. His Ferrari career may fizzle out, sure. But that will be down to Ferrari’s car development. Or this may be an interim year. We’ve no way of knowing. But in all events, a few races into his first season at Ferrari isn’t enough time to reach any conclusions. Except among those suffering from TikTok attention span syndrome.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
18th May 2025, 12:45
Yep he’s enjoying Ferrari’s struggles as it reflects on a driver he clearly doenst like. Anyone who thinks Sainz is an upgrade on Lewis needs an upgrade themselves
CP
18th May 2025, 13:13
Yes a 7 time world champion i a downgrade….roll eyes.
PeteB (@peteb)
18th May 2025, 11:00
Hamilton’s comments were more interesting. He said that the car felt really good but it just wasn’t fast.
I think that’s the problem… If he drove the Red Bull, he’d say it feels awful but of course it’d be a lot faster. I think with the current regs, a nice stable car isn’t a fast car.
David BR (@david-br)
18th May 2025, 12:39
@peteb The issue seemed to be the brakes altering in performance unpredictably over the space of one lap.
Leo B
18th May 2025, 12:47
They spent the night in the convalescence centre at the local hospital, tucked up in bed with hot milk and a biscuit. Vasseur read them some snow white. Now Lec and Ham are back to their best shape and ready for the race.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
18th May 2025, 14:00
Have to assume Ferrari organization has the same ego issues that Mercedes experienced when they couldn’t improve their car. Wind tunnel tests must like great.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
18th May 2025, 15:22
Leclerc’s 1st championship aspirations and Lewis’s 8th/9th championship aspirations are definitely outpacing the Ferrari cars. Soon they both might be lapped by them.