Lewis Hamilton is anticipating a ‘frustrating day’ on Sunday for the Italian Grand Prix, as grid penalties for new engine components mean that despite his original qualifying position of fifth-place, the seven-time World Champion will line-up on the back row of the grid in nineteenth-place.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team had struggled to generate any real performance out of the W13 prior to Saturday’s qualifying session, but the Brackley-based team were able to find the necessary performance come qualifying to place themselves in their usual position in the pecking order.
Hamilton finished over one second behind the fastest time set in the third qualifying session by Charles Leclerc and despite the W13 struggling with the low downforce levels around the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Hamilton stated that his performance in qualifying was simply not his best.
“It was an okay session from my side but not my best. Today, we are off the pace of the frontrunners so there wasn’t much more I could do – it’s at these low downforce levels that we seem to be less competitive, and to lose pace relative to the teams around us.“
With the grid penalties applied, Hamilton see’s himself tumble down the order for Sunday’s race and will line up alongside Yuki Tsunoda on the back row of the grid. If Hamilton is to achieve a positive result around Monza, he believes that it is imperative that he avoids any DRS trains in Sunday’s Grand Prix.
“It’s going to be tough for us tomorrow starting from the back because the DRS effect is not big, and I expect a lot of cars will be running in DRS trains. So, it could be a frustrating day for us – but I will try to keep positive and give it everything I’ve got.”
George Russell: “The session just ran away from us to be honest”
George Russell is one of the few drivers on the grid who will be taking advantage of the numerous penalties facing the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. After originally qualifying in sixth-place, behind his team-mate, Russell has been pushed all the way forward to the front row of the grid and will start the Italian Grand Prix in second-place alongside Leclerc.
After appearing to lack any real pace to challenge the front runners, Russell came out in Qualifying One and was just seven-tenths off the pace being set by Max Verstappen. As qualifying progressed, the front runners appeared to find another gear while Mercedes were left behind, with Russell finishing just under one and a half seconds behind the fastest time set in Qualifying Three.
It soon became apparent that Russell’s job in qualifying was to finish ahead of Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso to maximise his potential starting position for Sunday’s race. While being disappointed his Mercedes team couldn’t follow the front runners, Russell was left content with his own personal performance in qualifying.
“Q1 started off well, just a few tenths behind Ferrari, and I hoped that was where we were going to be – then the session just ran away from us to be honest, and I ended up 1.4 seconds away. We took a risk on the final run to save a set of new Soft tyres for tomorrow, and I’m pleased that neither Lando nor Fernando jumped us, as that was ultimately the fight for P2 on the grid tomorrow.“
With the young British driver starting Sunday’s Grand Prix on the front row of the grid for just the third time in his FIA Formula 1 World Championship career, Russell has his sights set on another podium finish.
“Looking to the race, we need to focus on ourselves – it will be hard to keep Max behind, Charles is starting in front, then we have Sergio, Carlos and Lewis coming from the back. We need to run our own race, focus on staying in the podium positions and put up a good fight.”
