‘Furious’ Hamilton says he should have taken Monza pole

Lewis Hamilton may be the greatest qualifier in Formula 1 history – but the seven-time champion blasted himself for being “not very good” after failing to take pole position and ending up P6 on the grid for the Italian Grand Prix, as team mate George Russell took P3.

Despite returning to winning ways for the first time since 2021 this season, Hamilton has struggled with qualifying, with Russell heading the team mate head-to-head battle 12-4 – despite Hamilton having a record 104 career pole positions to his name.

But after ending up sixth in qualifying at Monza – albeit just 0.186s off Lando Norris’s pole position, and only 0.073s off third-placed team mate Russell – Hamilton slammed his performance, saying: “I’m not very good… it’s as simple as that.

“I’m just not very good at qualifying… I clearly have [got bad]. I can’t put a lap together at the moment and it’s unbelievably frustrating.

'I'm not very good' - Hamilton after qualifying P6 for the Italian Grand Prix

“I’m furious. Furious,” added Hamilton to Sky Sports F1. “I could have been pole, I could have been… at least on the front row, and I just didn’t do the job in the end. I lost a tenth and a half into Turn 1, or through Turn 1 and 2, and I lost another tenth in the last corner, so there’s no one to blame but myself and it’s… Qualifying has been my weakness for a minute now, and I can’t figure it out. I’ll keep trying.”

Qualifying came just hours after the announcement that Hamilton – who opted ahead of the start of the season to sign for Ferrari for 2025 – will be replaced at Mercedes by 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli, who endured a dramatic debut Free Practice 1 outing after crashing Russell’s car at Parabolica.

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Kimi will be the real deal’ – Wolff on Antonelli’s signing, Russell’s senior role and his Hamilton relationship

But Hamilton was left to joke – when asked how he’d reset ahead of Sunday’s race – that perhaps Antonelli would provide the kind of performances for Mercedes that he couldn’t at the moment.

“I’ll probably be a little bit kicking myself over the next couple of hours,” he said. “Ultimately I’ve got to move forwards. We have a good race car, the team have done an amazing job this weekend and the car’s just been feeling so much better than the last race – and the team deserve better. Maybe they’ll get that with Kimi.”

MONZA, ITALY - AUGUST 31: George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes talks to the media during — Russell said P3 had exceeded his expectations

Russell, meanwhile, was happy with his lot, as he called third place behind the McLaren pairing of Norris and Oscar Piastri “better than expected” – with Russell qualifying ahead of the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, as Max Verstappen took a shock P7.

“It was great!” said the Briton. “Ending up P3 is a little bit better than I expected. It was a really tough session, Q1 and Q2, and fortunately we saved it until the end. We’re 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,” he added of Sunday’s race. “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. I’m pretty pumped for tomorrow.

“I’ll get some nice pizza tonight to fuel me up and a bit of extra weight, so not too light tomorrow! Hopefully we can fight for a good result.”