Lewis Hamilton issues apology to Ferrari after another disastrous qualifying at the F1 Imola GP
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton issued an apology to his team after finishing P12 in the 2025 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix qualifying session on Saturday. The British star has been slowly going backwards since the end of the FP1 session when he finished in the top five and looked comfortable in his SF-25 on Friday.
However, Hamilton admitted that he made some minor changes to the car, but it made the balance much worse compared to FP1. The situation did not improve overnight for the seven-time F1 world champion as he finished P10 in the FP3 session before qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Charles Leclerc had a tricky qualifying session as they were unable to improve on their initial laps in the Q2 session and were unable to get into Q3. The 40-year-old was once again behind his teammate and came on the team radio to apologise to Ferrari for not getting into Q3. He said:
"Sorry guys, I can't improve for some reason."
Sky Sports F1 pundit spoke about the SF-25's struggles at the iconic Imola track and added on the broadcast:
"The car has looked uncomfortable through the chicane all weekend. The first sector wasn't bad, but it just slipped away from them."
Lewis Hamilton has only finished ahead of Charles Leclerc just once in seven attempts and has largely struggled in the 2025 season.
Lewis Hamilton comments on the qualifying situation in Imola
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton had stated that it would be a lottery for the Italian team in the qualifying session as they were struggling with brake issues in FP2.
Speaking with F1.com, the Brit previewed the qualifying and said:
"It's not the transition, it's the performance. It's a lottery, we'll roll the dice and you put one [pad] on and it works and put another on and it doesn't. I hope tomorrow we figure something out, we're working on it for sure."
Lewis Hamilton has had a mixed start to his stint with the Maranello-based outfit, as he has struggled to get consistent performances in the SF-25, especially over a single lap.
Starting from P12 in the main race, the Brit would hope for a good launch of the line and use the superior race pace of the Ferrari to make early gains. McLaren's Oscar Piastri, the current championship leader, secured the pole ahead of the defending star Max Verstappen.