Lewis Hamilton suffers ANOTHER 'gutting' qualifying session

• Lewis Hamilton was 'gutted' after being eliminated early in qualifying at Imola
• It marked back-to-back Q2 eliminations for the seven-time world champion
• Hamilton's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc had 'no words' after qualifying P11

Lewis Hamilton hung his head low after another woeful qualifying session, in what is seemingly becoming a race weekend tradition for the Brit.

Hamilton will start Ferrari's home Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in P12, one place behind his team-mate Charles Leclerc who was also bounced out in Q2.

The Monegasque qualified outside of the top seven for just the second time this season, having also started P8 in Miami last time out.

But for Hamilton, lining up in the midfield has been common practice; the seven-time world champion has qualified better than seventh just once this season, when he started in P5 at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Speaking after qualifying at Imola, Hamilton cut a tired look as he delved into the same old story about his qualifying struggles, which extend back to his final season at Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton was nowhere in qualifying again as he could only put his Ferrari in P12 at Imola

Charles Leclerc was also bounced in Q2 during qualifying for one of the Scuderia's home races

Hamilton has qualified better than seventh just once this season, when he started P5 in China

'I feel gutted, I guess,' Hamilton said. 'Because the car was generally feeling really good.

'To be honest, I felt like the car, the set-up was just right. The brakes were working, everything was kind of in place. And we just can't go quicker.'

Hamilton drew a comparison to Max Verstappen's Red Bull and the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, arguing that his Ferrari is simply not as quick as his competitors' machinery.

Championship leader Piastri put his MCL39 on pole for the third time this season, logging a lap time almost 1.1 seconds quicker than Hamilton. 

Hamilton added: 'If you look at how quick Max (Verstappen's Red Bull) is going through Turn Two and Three, we just can't match it. And when we put that new soft (tyre) on at the end, for some reason it just didn't come alive, there was no extra grip.'

'Same with McLarens, so we've just got to keep pushing, keep applying pressure. I believe the guys can find some performance.'

Meanwhile, Leclerc could not muster any words of optimism and doubled down on his team-mate's disappointed sentiment.

'Very disappointed, especially at home at such a special grand prix for the team, it hurts. It would have hurt anyway at whatever track, but here it hurts even more,' Leclerc said.

Leclerc shared Hamilton's agony, stating he was 'very disappointed' at the team's result

Oscar Piastri claimed pole, with Max Verstappen and George Russell completing the top three

'I have no words about our performance today. The only thing we can say is that we are sorry for this kind of performance at home. We are just not good enough at the moment.'

Hamilton has logged the most pole positions in Formula One history (104), which makes his struggles even more perplexing.

His last pole came at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix, where he went on to finish P4.

Hamilton currently sits seventh in the drivers' standings, already 90 points behind championship leader Piastri.