Lewis Hamilton says he is braced for a tough fight with Ferrari on his rivals home soil from third on the grid. The Brit was met with boo's on the grid during interviews after qualifying but paid tribute to the fans that had filled the grandstands at Monza.
Speaking to Paul Di Resta after qualifying ended, Hamilton congratulated his rivals after an intense fight for pole. Although he is lining up third the Mercedes driver said he was looking forward to a close fight tomorrow deep in enemy territory at Monza.
"That was an exciting qualifying session! Congratulations to Ferrari, they did a solid job today.
"We've squeezed absolutely everything out of the car today. We've improved the car overnight and I'm really happy with where we were today.
"Everyone in the team is working as hard as they can to make the difference.
"It's obviously incredibly close between us. But they've had the upper-hand all weekend, but we still gave it everything we can."
Hamilton was on provisional pole as he crossed the line but laps from Sebastian Vettel and then Kimi Raikkonen narrowly bettered that of Hamilton's.
"I kind of knew that the Ferraris might just be able to pull out some extra bit of time, but I think second place might have been possible today.
"I lost maybe half a tenth in the last corner and that's the difference between third and second. We gave it everything we could today and will give more tomorrow.
"We've got to fight hard tomorrow. The long-run pace of the Ferraris looked quicker than ours, so it's not going to be easy, that's for sure.
"The start will hopefully create an opportunity for us. It's great that Valtteri (Bottas) is right behind me, so we can really apply the pressure on the red cars.
"I've got to study hard tonight to figure out a way how I can get in front of at least one of the Ferraris on the first lap.
"It's incredibly close as I said, as you can see, which is great for the sport and great to see so many fans here.
"Obviously they're all Ferrari fans, but it's still great!"
Read more about:
Today
Popular on GPBlog
1
Alonso on Verstappen threatening his seat at Aston Martin: 'Welcome to the team'
1143 times read
2
Russell sends subtle dig to Norris: "McLaren, in the hands of the right driver, does the job"
832 times read
3
Piastri calls on McLaren not to interfere in title battle: 'This year is very different'
704 times read
4
Verstappen and Horner clearly not in agreement on the real problem at Red Bull Racing
681 times read