A “furious” Lewis Hamilton said Mercedes “deserved better” after feeling he had thrown away the chance of pole position at the Italian Grand Prix.
Hamilton topped the timesheets in second and third practice at Monza but could only muster sixth place in Qualifying – a week after finishing P12 for the Dutch Grand Prix.
The 39-year-old will join Ferrari from 2025 and even quipped that his replacement at the Silver Arrows, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, will be an upgrade as he lamented his performance.
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Qualifying highlights from the Italian Grand Prix as Lando Norris grabbed pole position and Max Verstappen ended up down in seventh
A downbeat Hamilton told Sky Sports’ Rachel Brookes: “I am furious, absolutely furious. I could have been on pole, at least on the front row. I just didn’t do the job at the end.
“I lost a tenth and a half through Turns One and Two, and then a tenth in the last corner. No one to blame but myself. Qualifying has been my weakness for a minute now and I can’t figure it out.
“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 this weekend, they really have.
“The car felt better than last race and the team deserve better. Maybe they will get that with Kimi [Antonelli].”
Hamilton added: “It was absolutely ridiculous from my side and completely unacceptable.
“I’m just not very good at qualifying, simple as. It is unbelievably frustrating but I will keep working. That’s all I can do.”
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Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok talks through Kimi Antonelli’s journey to a race seat for Mercedes in 2025
Russell: McLarens ‘could sail into distance’
Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell qualified in third place, behind McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and feels the top two could “sail into the distance” during the race.
Russell is pinning his hopes on Norris and Piastri making poor starts, as they did at Zandvoort last Sunday when they lost a place each on the first lap, having qualified first and third respectively.
The Mercedes driver said: “McLaren are so quick, super impressive. Hopefully they keep up their start performance but if they don’t I think they will be sailing into the distance.
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George Russell believes McLaren will be the team to beat at Monza, saying they could ‘sail into the distance’ if they have a strong start
“That is where F1 is at the moment. McLaren are the team to beat. If we don’t get past them at the start, it will be difficult for anyone to keep up.”
Norris trails Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 70 points in the Drivers’ Championship after winning the Dutch Grand Prix and Russell thinks Piastri could help his team-mate triumph at Monza if the opportunity arises.
He said: “If Oscar is second, he might make a gap and secure the win for Lando. Hopefully it doesn’t pan out like that and we are fighting until the end but any team in their position would do the same.”
Verstappen qualified down in seventh and bemoaned his car’s grip, saying: “It is very difficult to drive and find a good balance.
“If you have one issue and try to fix that, then there is another issue. It’s not very driveable, let’s put it like that.”
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Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez believe the Red Bull is too difficult to drive at the moment
Sky Sports F1’s live Italian GP schedule
Sunday September 1
7:30am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
11am: Porsche Supercup
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Italian GP build-up
2pm: The ITALIAN GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Italian GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
Watch the Italian Grand Prix live this Sunday at 2pm on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership, No contract, cancel anytime.
