At the end of qualifying for the 2025 Imola Grand Prix, Mario Isola, head of Pirelli, clarified the difficulties encountered by many drivers, including those at Ferrari, with the new C6 compound introduced this weekend. Despite promising expectations, the feeling wasn’t as hoped, causing some confusion among teams.
In particular, Ferrari struggled significantly with the new tyres. Both cars were surprisingly eliminated in Q3 precisely due to the tyres. Neither Charles Leclerc nor Lewis Hamilton were able to improve their lap time compared to what they had done on used tyres.
Ferrari fails to improve on new tyres, Isola explains why
Isola explained that the C6 compound showed more understeer compared to the C5, despite the track temperatures being nearly identical between Friday and Saturday. The phenomenon caught several teams off guard, considering that during Friday’s long runs, the C6 appeared to be more performant. In qualifying, however, many drivers struggled to maximize grip, and in some cases set their best lap on used C6 tyres (including both Ferraris) instead of new ones.
According to Pirelli, the C6 tends to reach peak grip very quickly, making tyre management more complicated than with the C5. “It’s a softer tyre, and therefore more reactive,” Mario Isola explained. “But this can also make the feeling less predictable, especially if the preparation lap isn’t perfect.” Another factor mentioned was the possible strategic protection of the rear tyres by the teams in view of the race, which could have made the cars more prone to understeer.
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