Lewis Hamilton was “absolutely furious” at his performance during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, as the Brit went sixth-fastest, behind his Mercedes team-mate George Russell who took third.
On a weekend when his successor at the Silver Arrows was announced, with 17-year-old Kimi Antonelli to take over from Hamilton when the veteran heads to Ferrari, he will need to overtake two Tifosi vehicles in order to enjoy a successful weekend.
Hamilton had been running alongside Russell for the majority of the session and could have expected to finish in the top three, with McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri leading the way, but another poor qualifying session left the 39-year-old angry with himself.
“I am furious, absolutely furious,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. “I could have been on pole, at least on the front row. I just didn’t do the job. I lost a tenth and a half into Turn One, and then a tenth in the last corner. No one to blame by myself.
“Qualifying has been my weakness for a minute now and I can’t figure it out. I will keep trying. I will be kicking myself for the next couple of hours but I need to move forward.
“We have a good race car, the team have done an amazing job. The car felt better and the team deserve better. Maybe they will get that with Kimi.”
Meanwhile his team-mate Russell believes that there is a chance that Mercedes could still be celebrating in Monza, and he plans to prepare by eating a traditional Italian cuisine.
“It was great,” he explained. “Ending up P3, a little bit better than I expected because it was a really tough session, Q1 and Q2. Fortunately we saved it until the end. Not too far behind the McLarens.
“They’re so fast at the moment. We’re working so hard to catch them up, but I’m super happy with third.
“I think it’s going to be a tight battle. Everybody’s so close out there. It’s so exciting for F1. We’ve all been waiting for this competition and knowing if you do a great job, you’ve got a chance of victory. So, I’m pretty pumped for tomorrow.
“I’ll get some pizza tonight to fuel me up and a bit of extra weight, so I’m not too light tomorrow, and hopefully we can fight for a good result.”
