‘I cannot do miracles’ – Lewis Hamilton ‘super gutted’ after Ferrari disaster at Emilia Romagna GP
Lewis Hamilton’s first qualifying session in front of Ferrari’s home fans ended in major disappointment after a heartbreaking early exit. The seven-time world champion and teammate Charles Leclerc will start the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in 11th and 12th for the Scuderia. Hamilton looked despondent as he trudged back to the garageGetty Leclerc was aghast as both Ferraris failed to make Q3Getty Ferrari were under pressure to bounce back on home soil in Italy after their two drivers finished P8 and P7 respectively in Miami. It continued a hugely difficult season for the Prancing Horse, with just one podium and a solitary Sprint win across six race weekends. Despite the promise of upgrades, F1’s most successful and famous team will now have both drivers starting at Imola outside the top ten. Hamilton put his hands on his helmet as his fate became sealed, and then spent several minutes in the cockpit before exiting the car. He told Sky Sports: “It’s a tough one, ultimately I feel super gutted and devastated that we weren’t able to get through. “I really feel like we’ve made so many positive steps through the weekend, the car was generally feeling better and the brakes were better, the balance was really nice. “In Q2 in run one, it felt decent, but when we put the new tyres on for some reason, it just didn’t have any grip and couldn’t go any faster. “It’s just devastating to see everyone working so hard in the garage to be in Italy for the first Italian with me and for me at Ferrari, and not making it to Q3 is definitely bittersweet.” Leclerc could only manage 11th at the end of Q2, while the Brit’s best effort was one and a half tenths behind in a spot below. On tomorrow’s race, Leclerc added to Sky: “I can fight as much as I want, but I cannot do miracles. This is what there is in the car, and I’m trying to extract the maximum from it.” View Tweet: https://t.co/k1bCvELAvl Even Hamilton was shocked by Ferrari’s lack of pace when he checked out the timing screensGetty The Ferrari duo weren’t the only surprise exit in the second part of qualifying, with Italy’s local favourite Kimi Antonelli also out early. Mercedes’ Hamilton successor is due to commence the race weekend in 13th – his second non-top 10 start of his rookie season. The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will now mark Hamilton’s lowest starting position on the grid since his switch from Mercedes. His latest qualifying struggles comes after the 40-year-old admitted he under-estimated the scale of his move from the Silver Arrows. Aside from a Sprint pole converted to win in China, Hamilton has only out-qualified Leclerc once in a grand prix so far this season. “I anticipated it would be very tough, because I’ve joined a team before,” Hamilton said this week. Ferrari suffered a qualifying disaster at ImolaSky Sports “I came in with a really open mind. I didn’t know how tough it was going to be. I knew it was going to be challenging. It’s as challenging as it could ever be on all fronts. “There’s still a long, long way to go for the championship. “From all the years of experience, when you’re over 100 points behind at this point in the season, with a car that’s up against a car that’s quite dominant, you have to assume that you’re not necessarily fighting for the win in the championship. “But things could turn around. We’ve never seen that happen. “We want to get closer to those things. And as I said, at the moment, we can’t shut the door to any idea. We have to keep our eyes and our heads up. We have to stay vigilant. We have to push with the expectation and the goal of winning.” Piastri is in a great position with overtaking difficult on the Imola circuitAFP Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri held off the challenge of Max Verstappen to secure pole position in Imola and strengthen his hold at the top. The Australian’s McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, had to settle for fourth on the grid, with George Russell settling for third. Fernando Alonso, who is yet to score a single point this season, secured an impressive fifth spot ahead of both Williams drivers. Carlos Sainz will start ahead of teammate Alex Albon, with Lance Stroll eighth, Isack Hadjar in ninth, and then Pierre Gasly.
Lewis Hamilton’s first qualifying session in front of Ferrari’s home fans ended in major disappointment after a heartbreaking early exit.
The seven-time world champion and teammate Charles Leclerc will start the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in 11th and 12th for the Scuderia.
Ferrari were under pressure to bounce back on home soil in Italy after their two drivers finished P8 and P7 respectively in Miami.
It continued a hugely difficult season for the Prancing Horse, with just one podium and a solitary Sprint win across six race weekends.
Despite the promise of upgrades, F1’s most successful and famous team will now have both drivers starting at Imola outside the top ten.
Hamilton put his hands on his helmet as his fate became sealed, and then spent several minutes in the cockpit before exiting the car.
He told Sky Sports: “It’s a tough one, ultimately I feel super gutted and devastated that we weren’t able to get through.
“I really feel like we’ve made so many positive steps through the weekend, the car was generally feeling better and the brakes were better, the balance was really nice.
“In Q2 in run one, it felt decent, but when we put the new tyres on for some reason, it just didn’t have any grip and couldn’t go any faster.
“It’s just devastating to see everyone working so hard in the garage to be in Italy for the first Italian with me and for me at Ferrari, and not making it to Q3 is definitely bittersweet.”
Leclerc could only manage 11th at the end of Q2, while the Brit’s best effort was one and a half tenths behind in a spot below.
On tomorrow’s race, Leclerc added to Sky: “I can fight as much as I want, but I cannot do miracles. This is what there is in the car, and I’m trying to extract the maximum from it.”
The Ferrari duo weren’t the only surprise exit in the second part of qualifying, with Italy’s local favourite Kimi Antonelli also out early.
Mercedes’ Hamilton successor is due to commence the race weekend in 13th – his second non-top 10 start of his rookie season.
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will now mark Hamilton’s lowest starting position on the grid since his switch from Mercedes.
His latest qualifying struggles comes after the 40-year-old admitted he under-estimated the scale of his move from the Silver Arrows.
Aside from a Sprint pole converted to win in China, Hamilton has only out-qualified Leclerc once in a grand prix so far this season.
“I anticipated it would be very tough, because I’ve joined a team before,” Hamilton said this week.
“I came in with a really open mind. I didn’t know how tough it was going to be. I knew it was going to be challenging. It’s as challenging as it could ever be on all fronts.
“There’s still a long, long way to go for the championship.
“From all the years of experience, when you’re over 100 points behind at this point in the season, with a car that’s up against a car that’s quite dominant, you have to assume that you’re not necessarily fighting for the win in the championship.
“But things could turn around. We’ve never seen that happen.
“We want to get closer to those things. And as I said, at the moment, we can’t shut the door to any idea. We have to keep our eyes and our heads up. We have to stay vigilant. We have to push with the expectation and the goal of winning.”
Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri held off the challenge of Max Verstappen to secure pole position in Imola and strengthen his hold at the top.
The Australian’s McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, had to settle for fourth on the grid, with George Russell settling for third.
Fernando Alonso, who is yet to score a single point this season, secured an impressive fifth spot ahead of both Williams drivers.
Carlos Sainz will start ahead of teammate Alex Albon, with Lance Stroll eighth, Isack Hadjar in ninth, and then Pierre Gasly.
