Ferrari suffered a difficult qualifying session in Imola with both drivers failing to progress into the top ten shootout.
In what became an eventful qualifying session due to significant crashes for Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto, both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton found themselves on the edge of elimination.
In Q2 they crossed the line and initially looked safe, before a gamble from Aston Martin to complete their final runs on the medium tyre paid off with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll knocking out the Ferrari drivers.
Jacques Villeneuve felt Ferrari should have copied Aston Martin’s strategy after being left stunned by their early exit. Former F1 driver Timo Glock has identified the main ‘dilemma’ that Ferrari is now facing when speaking on the Formel1.de YouTube channel.
- READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory
Timo Glock thinks Ferrari has a car that prevents them from making progress
Leclerc and Hamilton both cast downbeat figures as Ferrari are now seemingly in a race to fix their car problems, otherwise their season risks becoming a write-off.
Their display in Imola is a symptom of a bigger issue they must rectify in their SF-25, according to Glock, who believes neither driver can extract the performance as a result.
“This is a grande disaster for Ferrari. That shouldn’t happen in front of a home crowd,” said Glock.
“But it shows the dilemma they are in: the car seems to be working reasonably well, but they can’t progress at the crucial moments in Q2 and Q3 when everyone else is making progress.”
Ferrari face race to get back into the top ten places at Imola
With Leclerc starting in P11 and Hamilton in P12, the pair face having to get back into the top 10 places to score points in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
It looks set to be the last race at Imola after its contract runs out at the end of the year, meaning Italian fans might catch their final glimpse of the team at the track.
| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
246 |
| 2 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
141 |
| 3 |
Red Bull Racing |
105 |
| 4 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
94 |
| 5 |
Williams F1 Team |
37 |
| 6 |
Haas F1 Team |
20 |
| 7 |
Aston Martin F1 Team |
14 |
| 8 |
Racing Bulls |
8 |
| 9 |
Alpine F1 Team |
7 |
| 10 |
Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber |
6 |
Ferrari will be hopeful that both drivers can score a decent haul of points to close the gap to Red Bull, given Tsunoda will be starting from the pit lane.
Verstappen could potentially be the only points scorer in the race, which means Ferrari could close the gap to within 10 points in the standings if both Hamilton and Leclerc score.
