Lewis Hamilton ‘gutted’ as Ferrari fall short in qualifying at Emilia Romagna GP

Lewis Hamilton admitted he was “devastated” after suffering an early exit from his first qualifying session as a Ferrari driver on home soil.

The seven-time world champion could qualify only 12th for Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix after the Scuderia’s disappointing start to the season reached a new low at Imola.

Hamilton was unable to find a time in the closing stages of Q2 as both he and team-mate Charles Leclerc in 11th were knocked out.

The 40-year-old is a massive 90 points adrift of championship leader Oscar Piastri after six races while Ferrari, who were expected to contend for the title this season, are 152 points behind McLaren.

Hamilton had spoken of excitement and expectation ahead of his first race weekend for Ferrari in Italy but was left with bitter disappointment.

“Definitely devastated and gutted I guess,” Hamilton said.

“The car was genuinely feeling pretty good. I felt like the car setup was right but we just can’t go quick enough.

“We threw the soft tyre on at the end and for some reason it just did not come alive, there was no grip.

“The support… it’s magic to see how much Ferrari means, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Piastri, who leads Norris in the championship by 16 points and is bidding for a fourth successive win, clinched pole position after producing a flawless lap to see off Max Verstappen – who was unable to beat the Australian with his final run.

George Russell clinched third as there was more qualifying disappointment for Lando Norris, the McLaren man finishing fourth having been first or second in every practice session.

Fernando Alonso was an impressive fifth for Aston Martin ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz.

Hamilton admits he faces an uphill task to score hefty points on Sunday.

“This is not a great race circuit, it’s great to drive a single lap but overtaking, you get stuck in a DRS train,” he added.

“We are all on softer tyres (this year) so we will see what we can do strategy wise and try and pick some off if we can.

“I feel like race pace could be good. I think we made progress this weekend.

“We have just got to keep pushing and applying pressure, I believe we can find something.”

Ferrari’s opening to the season means they are unlikely to contend for either championship, with thoughts potentially turning to 2026 and mastering the sport’s critical new regulations.

“At least from my side this is a foundation building season, getting to grips with everything in the team, making changes I need to help the team navigate to success long term,” Hamilton said.

“That is what we are focused on long term. There is a lot of progress we can make.

“I have full faith and belief that we can do it.”

Yuki Tsunoda earlier walked away from a major crash.

The Japanese’s Red Bull skidded across the gravel on the exit of the Villeneuve chicane in the first part of qualifying, with his car crashing into the barriers then being lifted into the air, flipping over before landing upside down and righting itself.

“I can only apologise to the team. I put in a very unnecessary stressful moment until tomorrow, for the mechanics especially,” Tsunoda told Sky Sports.

“I will have to reset myself.”