Hamilton: Not easy to be leapfrogged by the Williams

Hamilton will start behind his teammate George Russell, who was good for fourth and 0.150s quicker than his teammate when it mattered in Qualy. The margins are so close, that in between the Mercedes pair, were the Williams of Alex Albon and the McLaren of Oscar Piastri; customer cars, in other words.

The reality clearly pained Hamilton when he told reporters afterwards: "I think we’re all very similar pace. What’s impressive is to see how quick the Williams is – to be leapfrogged by the Williams and the McLaren, it’s not easy.

"George did a great job, so I’ve just got to try to progress forward somehow tomorrow. The Williams will be almost impossible to overtake because they’re fastest on the straights, but when there’s a will, there’s a way."

Later, in the Mercedes Qualy report, five-time winner of the Italian Grand Prix, Hamilton added: "That wasn't the greatest session. We started off the weekend well in FP1 on the first run, then it feels like things have got more complicated and I just haven't found the sweet spot with the car.

"It was improving through qualifying, and we made it to the top ten, but I still didn't have the feeling I wanted with the car on the final run. We know how close the times are in qualifying, and that also translates to very similar race pace, which can make it hard to make up positions through the field, especially early in the race," explained Hamilton.

In contrast, Russell pulled the proverbial 'rabbit out of the hat' with his performance in Q3. He was relatively nowhere in Q1 (13th) and Q2 (7th) before digging deep to pop up in fourth at the end of the final runs.

Russell reflected on his session: "You need to be dynamic in this new qualifying format as you jump down the tyre compounds, and I think we did a good job managing it today. The engineers did a great job overnight and we hit the ground running this morning, I felt more comfortable in the car.

"With the softer tyre compounds Pirelli have brought here, I think there's the option to tune the set-up more aggressively for qualifying or favouring the race pace a little bit more. We've done the latter, so I hope it pays off tomorrow.

"There's always lots of talk about a tow here, but it's always a double-edged sword; I chose clean air on each run and it worked well today. Overall, though, this was a session that just shows how you need to get every detail right in F1.

"In Q1, I didn't get the tyre in the right window and was P13; then in Q3, we ended up P4. Now it's full focus on the race and I hope we can challenge for the podium," concluded Russell.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff summed up: "That was a solid session for us but again a mixed outcome from qualifying - less than two-tenths between our drivers, but that means four positions when it's such a close field.

"George did a strong job to get onto the second row; Lewis found it more difficult to build confidence in the car, and he was struggling for rear grip through the sessions. We know how hard it is to overtake at this circuit, with the small wings and a reduced DRS effect.

"If George makes a good start, then he can fight at the front; if Albon gets past, for example, then it might be a more complicated afternoon for us. As for Lewis, we know what he can deliver in the race - and he will fight until the final metres to climb through the field.

"Finally, it was great to see Ferrari put on such a great show, and fantastic to see the emotions of the tifosi as well. It will be a long race tomorrow, probably a one-stop without too much variety in the strategy, but let's see how we go when it comes to the race pace," added Wolff.

Hamilton and Russell are driving with the knowledge they will be racing with Mercedes until the end of the 2025 F1 season, thanks to both extending their contracts for two more years as announced by the team ahead of the Italian GP weekend.