Emilia Romagna GP
Ferrari Faces Braking “Lottery” as Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc Struggle at Imola
Ferrari’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend got off to a rocky start as both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc battled inconsistent braking performance with the SF-25 during Friday practice sessions at the historic Imola circuit.
Lewis Hamilton, who joined Ferrari this season, expressed growing frustration with the team’s ongoing brake issues, describing the braking system’s performance as “a lottery.” After showing early promise in FP1 with a fifth-place finish, Hamilton slumped to 11th in FP2 as the car struggled during qualifying simulation runs on Pirelli’s softest compound tires.
“It’s not the transition [from Mercedes], it’s the performance,” Lewis Hamilton said,
Clarifying that the issues weren’t related to switching from Mercedes’ Carbon Industrie brake pads to Ferrari’s Brembo setup.
“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 pointed to a minimal setup change between FP1 and FP2 that unexpectedly caused a significant drop in performance. “I literally changed two of the tiniest things — probably the smallest change we’ve done all year — and we had some brake issues that made a massive difference,” he said. “That’s been quite a big issue all year, actually.”
The seven-time World Champion isn’t alone in his concerns. Teammate Charles Leclerc also encountered difficulties during both sessions. After missing Thursday’s media duties due to illness, Charles Leclerc returned to the track Friday only to deal with his own share of technical problems. In FP1, he suffered from aerodynamic helmet issues at high speed, and in FP2, he was similarly hampered by brake inconsistencies.
Carles Leclerc, who finished sixth in the second session, nearly half a second off the pace-setter Oscar Piastri, acknowledged the team’s struggles in qualifying pace. “Our weak point at the moment is the qualifying pace, and we still need to work on that,” said the Monegasque. “To go and take pole, honestly, I don’t think we’ve got it in the car for now. But the race pace was strong, so that’s positive.”
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However, Charles Leclerc warned that a poor qualifying performance could compromise the team’s weekend at Imola (Emilia Romagna Grand Prix) — a notoriously tight circuit where overtaking is difficult. “We’ve got to focus on our qualifying pace,” he added. “That’s where we are putting all our effort into.”
While McLaren dominated Friday practice with a 1-2 finish from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, Ferrari’s struggles have pressured the team to resolve the brake performance inconsistencies quickly. With expectations high for Ferrari on home soil, both drivers are hoping for a turnaround before Saturday’s crucial qualifying session.
As the team continues to search for answers, the brake issues remain an unpredictable variable — one that could define Ferrari’s fate in the Italian leg of the championship.
