Lewis Hamilton nearly recovered from a ‘devastating’ qualifying to get his first podium for Ferrari, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.
F1 descended on the Scuderia’s backyard last week to launch the European leg of the 2025 campaign. Yet Ferrari faced a daunting meeting at their home track after Charles Leclerc and Hamilton were both eliminated in Q2 and started the Emilia Romagna GP from P11 and P12.
But a late safety car period after Mercedes’ Italian gem Andrea Kimi Antonelli retired helped Hamilton join the podium conversation. Ferrari used the stoppage to pit the 40-year-old for a new set of hard tyres, which saw him rise to P4 and only 1.4 seconds behind Oscar Piastri.
Hamilton had called his starting position ‘devastating’ after Ferrari endured a double-exit in Q2 at Imola on Saturday. Fighting through the traffic on Sunday would also ensure he would still finish the Emilia Romagna GP 14.356s behind Verstappen as the Red Bull ace triumphed.
Max Verstappen reinforced Ferrari’s ‘regret’ at not signing the Red Bull racer by winning the Emilia Romagna GP
Fourth place in the Emilia Romagna GP still marks Hamilton’s best Grand Prix finish since the Briton joined Ferrari from Mercedes ahead of the 2025 F1 season. But watching Verstappen earn the 27-year-old’s second win of the year reinforced Ferrari’s ‘regret’ at not signing him.
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That is according to Gazzetta dello Sport, which reports that Maranello chiefs ‘regret’ Ferrari did not wait for a chance to sign Verstappen to occur before they replaced Carlos Sainz with Hamilton. The Scuderia gave the seven-time F1 champion a two-year contract last February.
Yet the Dutchman offered Ferrari a reminder of why they admire him at Imola as Verstappen missed out on pole for the Emilia Romagna GP by 0.034s to Piastri. He even then caught the 24-year-old napping into the Tamburello chicane to claim the lead on the opening lap at T2.
Max Verstappen reacted to Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari by saying ‘never say never’ to the same move
Verstappen never looked like he would be caught at Imola after taking the lead off Piastri, as well. Now, Ferrari are wondering what may have been if they had waited to sign Verstappen instead of luring Hamilton from Mercedes amid ongoing doubts about his future at Red Bull.
READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
146 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
133 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
124 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
99 |
| 5 |
Charles Leclerc |
61 |
| 6 |
Lewis Hamilton |
53 |
| 7 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
48 |
Paddock gossip is now linking Verstappen with a shock switch to McLaren for 2026, with the four-time reigning F1 champion looking to leave Red Bull at the end of this year. He has exit clauses in the Dutchman’s deal which can allow him to get out of his contract through 2028.
It has also been said that Ferrari could look to replace Hamilton with Verstappen for 2027, if the Dutchman breaks out of his Red Bull contract and takes a sabbatical in 2026. Also, when Hamilton announced his move, Verstappen said ‘never say never’ to joining Ferrari one day.
Red Bull can even see Verstappen trigger one exit clause in his contract if he is not in the top three of the F1 drivers’ championship at the summer break. Winning at Imola leaves him 22 points behind Piastri in third place and improved his gap over George Russell in fourth to 25.
