‘Furious’ Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes ‘deserve better’ after Italian GP qualifying

Lewis Hamilton admitted being “furious” at his qualifying performance on Saturday, believing he should have been at least on the front row at Monza.

The seven-time World Champion will line up sixth on the grid in what was a tight fight for pole on Saturday, his Q3 best only 0.186s behind the P1 time of Lando Norris in his McLaren.

Lewis Hamilton ‘furious’ with Italian GP qualifying showing

Hamilton believes he lost a quarter of a second in total between the opening chicane and lap-ending Parabolica corner, which would have been enough to put him on pole.

But within that, he acknowledged he believes qualifying has been a “weakness” of his for a little while – as he trails team-mate George Russell 12-4 in the head-to-head on that front this season, though he still leads his Mercedes colleague in the Drivers’ standings by 32 points.

Despite the fine margins involved, Hamilton admitted his frustrations at not putting his car on the front row of the grid for the Italian Grand Prix, and even ahead of Norris.

“Furious. Absolutely furious, because I could have been pole,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 after the session.

“I think I could have been on the front row, at least on the front row, and I just didn’t do the job at the end.

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“Lost a tenth and a half in Turn 1 and 2, and then I lost another tenth at the last corner. So no-one to blame but myself. Qualifying has been my weakness for a minute now, and I can’t figure it out. So I’ll keep trying.”

As for what comes next, Hamilton, who was speaking shortly after the flag dropped on qualifying, expressed his belief that “the team deserve better” from qualifying.

With Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli having been announced as his successor at Mercedes on Saturday morning, he admitted to a “very surreal” feeling about it now he will vacate his seat come the end of the season.

“Probably a little bit kicking myself over the next couple of hours, and then, ultimately, I’ve got to continue. I’ve got to move forwards,” he added when asked about what comes next.

“We have a good race car, the team have done an amazing job this weekend. We really have. The car has been feeling so much better than the last race, and the team deserve better – maybe they’ll get that with Kimi.”

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