Lewis Hamilton described Ferrari`s unexpected early elimination from Emilia Romagna Grand Prix qualifying as `devastating`. This result marked a new low for the Italian team on their home soil during a challenging season.
For the first time in the history of the historic Imola circuit, which is hosting its 32nd Grand Prix this weekend, Ferrari failed to get either car into the top 10 qualifying positions. Charles Leclerc finished 11th and Hamilton 12th, both knocked out in the second session (Q2).
This was also the first time Ferrari had not reached Q3 in nearly a year, since the Canadian GP last June.
Hamilton, who qualified just one-tenth of a second behind Leclerc, is racing in front of Ferrari`s famous Tifosi fans for the first time this weekend.
Speaking after qualifying, the disappointed seven-time world champion conveyed his feelings: “Tough one. Ultimately, I feel super gutted, devastated that we weren`t able to get through.”
He added that they felt they had made significant positive steps throughout the weekend, with the car generally feeling better, improved brakes, and a nice balance.
However, the crucial Q2 session proved problematic. Hamilton explained, “In Q2, run one felt decent, and then when we put the new tyres on, for some reason I just didn`t have any more grip and couldn`t go any faster.”
“You see everyone else, they managed to switch the tyres on clearly. We definitely need to look into that,” he noted.
Elaborating on his devastation, Hamilton mentioned the hard work of everyone in the garage and the disappointment of failing to reach Q3 in Italy, especially in his first Italian race with Ferrari. He called the situation “definitely bittersweet.”
Both Ferrari drivers were initially positioned within the top 10 before their final Q2 attempts but failed to improve their times on new soft tyres, leaving them vulnerable to being pushed out. This is exactly what happened, as drivers like Carlos Sainz, Isack Hadjar, Pierre Gasly, Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll all set faster laps, displacing the Ferraris from the top 10.
Asked if he felt he could have extracted more performance from the car, Leclerc responded, “I don`t think so. You can always do a little bit more with a lap and improve quite a few things, but we are just nowhere at the moment.”
He reiterated his frustration with the car`s current state: “There`s not enough performance in the car, and I keep repeating myself. There`s just not the potential that we would hope inside this car at the moment, and we need to be better.”
Ferrari drivers now braced for `tough` and `very hard` race
Already a considerable 152 points behind Constructors` Championship leaders McLaren, Ferrari, currently fourth in the standings, will now aim to salvage a respectable result from their poor grid positions in Sunday`s 63-lap Grand Prix.
However, neither Hamilton nor Leclerc expects this to be an easy task.
“It`s all big ifs. It`s a very difficult track to overtake,” Hamilton commented on the narrow 3.05-mile Imola layout.
“I think tomorrow it will be hard to progress. We`ll have to battle hard to be able to figure a way to progress forwards. Just getting into the top 10 and getting further up the top 10 is going to be tough. There`s a lot of quick cars ahead of us,” he predicted.
Leclerc, who had shown promising race pace in Friday practice sessions, agreed with Hamilton`s assessment, stating, “Very, very hard.”
He concluded, “But I can fight as much as I want, but at the moment I cannot do miracles. This is what there is in the car. I`m trying to extract the maximum out of it. That`s it.”
