Lewis Hamilton fears he may have his work cut out to claim a fifth consecutive pole position tomorrow at Monza. The Briton was sixth today, eight tenths behind pacesetter Sebastian Vettel, and doesn’t feel he currently has the pace to challenge the world champion.
“The car feels pretty good here today at Monza. The balance is reasonable and we’ve had a pretty smooth day, better than our recent Fridays in fact. Although we’re quite competitive, we’re not quick enough yet and will have to work hard tonight to see where we can make some improvements. Of course we don’t know what fuel loads other teams are on so we’ll have to wait and see but there is a bit of work for us to do if we want to compete right at the front tomorrow.”
Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg was right behind Hamilton in seventh and agrees that Red Bull are looking ominously quick.
“As usual on Fridays, we are a bit away from the quickest times, however we learned a lot today. Almost every single lap brings important information and I think our car is good again. We need to work hard this evening to improve further though as the Red Bulls are very quick again. Generally it’s a great atmosphere here at Monza; the track is absolutely fantastic and the fans are very enthusiastic. There’s always a great welcome for us here.”
