Ferrari’s braking issues ‘a lottery’ as Hamilton reflects on FP2 struggles in Imola

Lewis Hamilton believes that ongoing braking issues with Ferrari’s SF-25 are «a lottery» as the seven-time World Champion and team mate Charles Leclerc struggled for pace on Friday ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Hamilton could only manage 11th in the second practice session at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit when drivers ran Qualifying simulation runs on Pirelli’s softest compound of tyre.

FP2: Piastri leads another McLaren 1-2 at Imola as Hadjar brings out red flags

Throughout the one-hour session the Briton struggled with braking issues and admitted that it has been an issue all season, but not linked from switching between Carbon Industrie brake pads at Mercedes to Brembo with Ferrari.

«It’s not the transition, it’s the performance,» said Hamilton following Friday’s practice sessions. «It’s a lottery, we’ll roll the dice and you put one [pad] on and it works and put another on and it doesn’t. I hope tomorrow we figure something out, we’re working on it for sure.»

‘Brake issues made a massive difference’ – Hamilton on his FP2 struggles at Imola

Hamilton enjoyed more promising pace in FP1, finishing fifth and less than one-tenth behind Oscar Piastri and McLaren at the top of the order before a small set-up change caused problems in the afternoon.

«I was really happy with the car in FP1, it felt like we’d made a step forward and was feeling really positive,» he added.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from FP2 at Imola as Piastri sets the pace, Ferrari struggle and Hadjar spins off

«I literally changed two of the tiniest things that shouldn’t have had barely any effect at all, the smallest change we’ve probably done this year and we had some brake issues that then made a massive difference so that was then a fight with that. That’s been quite a big issue all year actually.»

Leclerc reckons pole is not on the cards for Ferrari this weekend

Leclerc, who missed media duties on Thursday due to illness, suffered problems with his helmet in FP1 with air pulling it up at high speed, before he too suffered with braking problems in FP2 as he finished sixth, nearly half a second behind Piastri.

«Our weak point at the moment is the Qualifying pace and we still need to work on that,» the Monegasque said.

«To go and take pole, honestly I don’t think we’ve got it in the car for now but the race pace was strong so that’s positive.

«But [it’s] also a track where overtaking is very difficult, so we’ve got to focus on our qualifying pace, that’s where we are putting all our effort into.»