F1 | Ferrari’s balance woes continue: solid long runs, poor qualifying – Emilia Romagna GP. Ferrari struggles at Imola as the SF-25 shows weak qualifying pace but solid long-run performance.

A tough Saturday seems to lie ahead for Ferrari. At the end of the first day of track activity, the results were quite clear: Charles Leclerc placed sixth, while Lewis Hamilton was eleventh in qualifying simulations. The outlook for Sunday could improve, however, as the long runs — somewhat surprisingly — placed both Ferrari cars just behind the McLarens. This gave rise to some smiles among the many fans already at Imola on Friday.

The overall picture remained challenging, as Charles Leclerc (still slightly unwell after having a fever the day before) confirmed at the end of the day. The Moneagsque admitted it was hard to say, but he honestly felt that securing the front row would be very difficult for them. According to him, the second row would already be an excellent result, although at the moment the team was targeting the third row if things went well. He said he hoped for a miracle, which would mean reaching the second row.

Charles Leclerc also pointed out that the work done between the two practice sessions had gone in the right direction. He explained that FP1 had been complicated, with some difficulties during the session, but that things improved in FP2, even though performance was still lacking.

He also downplayed the long-run results, noting that their race pace had seemed decent, but Imola is a track where overtaking was particularly difficult. He stated that the current weak point was qualifying performance, and that would be the team’s priority in their evening work ahead of the next day.

Still, the timing sequence shown by the two Ferrari cars on full fuel was of interest, even though the number of laps wasn’t enough — due to a red flag caused by Isack Hadjar going off track — to assess how tire degradation would play a role.

Both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton had complained of brake issues, a problem that emerged while braking into turn 1. This was repeatedly highlighted over team radio during the qualifying simulation and lessened somewhat during the long runs. Engineer Bryan Bozzi responded to Charles Leclerc over the radio, stating they knew where to intervene for the next day. However, Lewis Hamilton seemed to suffer more from the issue, which was not new when it came to Ferrari’s braking system.

The Briton explained that FP2 had proven more demanding, as he struggled to find consistent performance. He said they would analyze the data collected that evening, but that the team had completed its program, including long runs, and now had a good amount of information to work with. Ferrari appeared on the defensive, and the findings from the day didn’t provide a foundation on which to build hopes of a podium finish — a goal reserved for anyone not driving a McLaren. The impression was that the Scuderia would have to focus on damage limitation.

After FP2, Ferrari was also penalized by the stewards for an oversight during the first free practice session. Mechanics had violated Technical Directive 003Q 2.g.ii by adjusting the tire pressures on Charles Leclerc’s car without following the prescribed procedure.

The directive requires teams to measure tire temperatures before making any adjustments. Ferrari admitted the procedure had not been followed correctly, and the Maranello team was penalized for violating Article 30.5 of the sporting regulations.