Lewis Hamilton said he was “absolutely furious” with himself after qualifying sixth for the Italian Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver was briefly fastest of all in Q2 and fourth-quickest after the first runs in Q3. But he failed to improve on his final lap and was relegated to sixth by the Ferrari drivers.With team mate George Russell qualifying third, a tenth of a second off pole-winner Lando Norris, Hamilton felt he’d missed a chance to take the top spot on the grid.
“That could have been pole,” he told Sky. “I think I could have been on the front row, at least on the front row, and I just didn’t do the job at the end.
“I lost a tenth and a half through turn one and two, then I lost another tenth through the last corner. So there’s no one to blame but myself.”
Hamilton has won twice this year but hasn’t taken pole position yet. He has seldom out-qualified Russell and admitted he still hasn’t figured out why he’s struggling to get the best from the car over a single lap. “Qualifying has been my weakness for a minute now and I can’t figure it out,” he said. “I’ll keep trying.”
This is Hamilton’s last appearance at an Italian round before he joins Ferrari next year. Mercedes announced today Andrea Kimi Antonelli will take his place next season. Hamilton glumly reflected that his 18-year-old replacement may be able to do better.
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“I’ll probably kicking myself a little bit over the next couple of hours,” he said, “and then ultimately I’ve got to move forwards.
“We have a good race car. The team have done an amazing job this weekend, we really have. The car’s been feeling so much better than last race.
“And the team deserve better. Maybe they’ll get that with Kimi.”
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David BR (@david-br)
31st August 2024, 18:07
I was really looking forward to Hamilton at Ferrari next year but he needs to stop trash-talking himself and recover some of the self-belief he evidently lost in the 2021-22 off season. Otherwise, why continue? Maybe it works for Norris being so self-critical, Leclerc and Hamilton? Not so much. Arriving at Ferrari with existential-level self-doubt doesn’t sound like a recipe for success.
Shaun Mathew
31st August 2024, 18:17
“…Maybe they’ll get that with Kimi.”
Is that a tacit acknowledgement of Kimi’s speed potential vis-a-vis Hamilton’s current ability to extract the maximum from the car during Quali?
grat
31st August 2024, 19:01
That’s a driver who’s furious with himself, trying to find something positive to say.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
31st August 2024, 19:22
I think it’s just him being hard on himself, saying that maybe Mercedes will be better off without him next year – a little bit self-deprecating. I wouldn’t read too much into it. If he gets a sniff of a good result tomorrow then he’ll be up for it as usual.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
31st August 2024, 18:21
Wow, that’s very hard on himself but if it’s true he left at least 2 tenths on the table through mistakes that’s a shame, I noticed it’s been a very close quali in terms of gaps and despite being only 7 hundreths slower than russell he ended up losing 3 places, 1,8 tenths off pole wasn’t a terrible gap, and russell himself lost a place for 4 thousandths!
Edvaldo
31st August 2024, 20:17
Hamilton has indeed been qualifying like crap this year. How many times has this happened already?
When he qualified 2nd and 3rd, he won, as his pace is on par with the fastest guys, unlike Russell who tends to drop off more often than not.
Still, I’m under the impression he’ll finish ahead of Ferraris, but a win is out of the cards now.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
31st August 2024, 20:33
It wouldn’t be the first time Sir Lewis setup lasted far better than one King George (all due respect). Some times that difference is 1-3 tenths in qualifying. Lewis just needs to be happy with whether or not he can meet himself on the day, everything else is trivial.
Observer
31st August 2024, 21:28
Contrast this with MV’s blaming of the tyres, the car, the weather, the colour of the timekeeper’s shirt, etc. etc. for his bad time.
BenHur
31st August 2024, 21:40
Yes, bring on Kimi the Second!!
Robert Williams (@weiliwen)
31st August 2024, 23:26
I liked that he pointed the finger of blame straight inward, no blaming anybody or anything else. To me, it shows genuine humility.
Dom (@3dom)
1st September 2024, 0:34
I didn’t understand why he was running only 4 seconds behind Russell when the ideal gap for the tow is 7-8 seconds behind. Surely that would have hurt him in the corners
Boomerang
1st September 2024, 6:23
I’ll tell ya, he’s given the second driver treatment.
Ajaxn
1st September 2024, 1:26
I’m left wondering if anything changed between the Q3 1st and Q3 2nd run. After all, it would be the last time to set the car prior to Parc Ferma.
He may have sacrificed something for better race pace. This means the first run was the only serious attempt at a good qualifying, leaving the 2nd run at the mercy of a better race setup. We shall see.
Asanator
1st September 2024, 12:27
The cars are in parc ferme conditions as soon as they leave the garage in Q1.
Boomerang
1st September 2024, 6:25
Mercedes is doing a great job of destroying a driver that’s leaving. Only Ferrari does it better.