Ferrari’s race weekend in Imola, already off to a rough start, took an even steeper downward turn after qualifying. For the first time in their rich history at this circuit, neither of the Scuderia drivers managed to make it into Q3 — a bitter pill for the Tifosi to swallow at their home Grand Prix.

Telemetry data gives us a clearer picture of where things unraveled and what Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc can realistically hope for in Sunday’s race.

Ferrari SF-25 weaknesses more evident than ever

From the outset of the weekend, it was clear that both Ferrari drivers were struggling with the SF-25.

Barring FP1, neither Hamilton nor Leclerc managed to get within half a second of the leading time. In FP2, both drivers expressed their frustration over poor braking performance — a warning sign of what was to come in qualifying.

Still, few would have predicted that both Aston Martin and Williams would outqualify the red cars.

The root of Ferrari’s struggles lies in the SF-25’s unstable and unpredictable rear end.

One popular theory suggests the Maranello team made a fundamental design misstep with the gearbox casing and rear suspension layout.

As a result, the car suffers from limited adjustability in how aerodynamic load is transferred to the rear tyres.

It’s a major issue — one that would require not only time but also a significant budget to resolve.

This deficiency means the car cannot be driven at the limit, and that triggers a domino effect that compromises overall performance.

Leclerc ultimately missed out on Q3 by just 0.083 seconds, finishing P11, while Hamilton was 0.244 seconds adrift in P12.

Ferrari: Where Did They Lose Time?

👉 Winners and losers from the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix qualifying

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

A sector-by-sector comparison with Albon’s Q2 lap shows a repeating pattern: both Ferrari drivers lost substantial time in Sector 1.

Though they were quicker in Sectors 2 and 3, it wasn’t enough to close the gap. This tells us the issue didn’t lie in the new C6 soft tyres — it’s simply a case of a poorly balanced and underperforming SF-25.

What’s even more interesting is how similar Hamilton and Leclerc’s laps were. They lost time in the exact same corners and gained it back in the same places compared to Albon.

A comparison of top speed traces shows that from Turn 2 (Imola’s official Turn 1), Leclerc was already losing out.

Albon had a much stronger exit from Turn 3, a corner that highlights Ferrari’s rear-end instability, as the Williams driver was able to apply throttle earlier and reach full power more quickly.

The same applies to the chicane at Turns 5 and 6.

When we look at Hamilton’s data, the gap widens even further — he was already half a second down on Albon by the exit of Turn 6.

The only part of the lap where the SF-25 had an edge was on the straights — possibly helped by Ferrari’s energy deployment — and in the fast double-left combination of Turns 17 and 18.

But even there, Albon made a minor mistake, allowing the Ferrari drivers to slightly reduce the gap.

What can Ferrari do in the race?

Outside of Monaco, Imola is one of the worst circuits on the calendar for trying to recover from a poor grid position.

Despite all their problems, Ferrari’s race pace isn’t nearly as bad as their single-lap struggles.

FP2 offered a glimpse of their long-run potential, where lap times looked more competitive.

Ferrari should have enough in hand to beat Alpine, Aston Martin, and Williams over a race distance — but Imola’s tight layout makes overtaking notoriously difficult, meaning a faster car can still be stuck in a DRS train behind a slower one.

What certainly won’t inspire confidence among the fans is that Ferrari’s issues stem from fundamental flaws, ones not easily patched over.

Fixing a structural suspension issue mid-season isn’t just difficult, it’s borderline unrealistic under the cost cap and limited development time.

The European leg of the season has only just begun, but for Ferrari to catch up to the front-runners, something significant needs to change, and soon.

Read next: Lewis Hamilton ‘devastated’ with Ferrari ‘P-nowhere’ at Imola GP