After making what he described as “two of the tiniest” adjustments to his Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton encountered significant braking issues during the second practice session at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, likening the process of fixing them to a “lottery.” This occurred at the Italian team`s home track.
Competing in Italy for the first time as a Ferrari driver before the enthusiastic Tifosi crowd, Hamilton`s day began positively, finishing fifth in the first practice session, less than a tenth of a second behind the leading McLarens.
However, the afternoon session was more challenging. Hamilton could only manage the 11th fastest time, and was repeatedly heard on team radio voicing frustration about his car`s brakes.
“P1 was good,” Hamilton commented. “I was genuinely pleased with the car in the first practice; it felt like we had improved, and I was quite optimistic.”
“I made what felt like two of the smallest changes imaginable, minimal adjustments that should have had almost no impact,” he explained. “But then we hit significant brake problems, which completely changed things, and I spent the session battling that.”
“This has actually been a considerable issue throughout the year,” he added. “It`s something I`ve never encountered before in my career, so it`s a new challenge for me this season.”
Hamilton clarified that the braking problem wasn`t due to him adjusting to Ferrari`s different brake materials compared to his previous team, Mercedes. When asked if the issue could be fixed by Saturday, he replied, “no.”
He further elaborated, saying, “It`s a lottery! We`ll just have to take a chance. Sometimes a set works, sometimes it doesn`t, and we`ll see what happens.”
“I hope we can figure something out for tomorrow; we are definitely working hard on it,” he concluded.
His teammate, Charles Leclerc, also reported brake issues during the day. While he was 0.4 seconds slower than Hamilton in the first session, he improved in Practice Two, finishing sixth and almost two tenths faster than Hamilton.
Leclerc: Focus on Improving Qualifying Pace
Having missed Thursday`s media commitments due to illness, Leclerc stated he felt “a lot better” returning to the track on Friday. However, he described the initial session in the SF-25 as “very tricky,” finishing 12th due to various car problems.
Unlike Hamilton, Leclerc had a more productive second session, although he acknowledged it reinforced the need for Ferrari to improve their single-lap performance.
“In FP2, we got things working a bit better, and the car felt improved for me,” he commented after setting the sixth fastest time.
“But we still lack performance, and we are aware of that. Our current weakness is qualifying pace, and that`s something we absolutely need to address.”
When asked about the possibility of finding enough pace for a strong qualifying position for Sunday`s race, Leclerc replied: “To be better than today, yes. But to be completely honest, I don`t think the car currently has the pace for pole position.”
“However, our race pace felt strong, which is a positive aspect,” he noted. “But Imola is a track where overtaking is very difficult, so we must concentrate on our qualifying performance. That`s where we are focusing all our efforts, and I hope it will pay off tomorrow.”
Emilia Romagna GP Weekend Schedule
Saturday, May 18
- 9:00 AM: F3 Sprint Race
- 11:15 AM: Emilia Romagna GP Practice Three (Session starts 11:30 AM)
- 1:10 PM: F2 Sprint Race
- 2:10 PM: Emilia Romagna GP Qualifying Build-up
- 3:00 PM: EMILIA ROMAGNA GP QUALIFYING
- 5:00 PM: Ted`s Qualifying Notebook
(Schedule times are approximate and subject to change)
Sunday, May 19
- 7:25 AM: F3 Feature Race
- 8:55 AM: F2 Feature Race
- 12:30 PM: Grand Prix Sunday: Emilia Romagna GP Build-up
- 2:00 PM: THE EMILIA ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX
- 4:00 PM: Chequered Flag: Emilia Romagna GP Reaction
- 5:00 PM: Ted`s Notebook
(Schedule times are approximate and subject to change)
Gilbert Pendleton