Lewis Hamilton is predicting a “very close” battle in Italian Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday for what he says would he says would be a “dream” pole position at Monza. Hamilton was outperformed by his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in both of Friday's practice sessions but the team's overall performance, following the arrival of a new engine upgrade, suggested they have the pace to compete for pole. Leclerc topped Hamilton in first practice before Mercedes' George Russell was fastest in the second session, with Leclerc second and Hamilton only fifth behind Kimi Antonelli and McLaren's Lando Norris.
Ferrari are set to go into qualifying, live on Sky Sports F1 at 3pm, with a two-versus-one advantage over Mercedes due to world championship leader Kimi Antonelli having already incurred penalties for exceeding his engine-part allowance that will see him start from the back of the grid regardless of where he finishes the session. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "It's going to be tight, it's very close," Hamilton said. "We're up against the McLarens and the Mercedes, they are very, very competitive.
"Every weekend the Mercedes is just really, really quick. It'll be tough, for sure, but we need to knuckle down tonight and see if we can pull something out." Asked about the possibility of starting on the front row or pole position at Ferrari's home race, Hamilton replied: "That's the dream, the ultimate dream. "Whether or not we can is the big, big question.
And that's going to take a lot of work tonight to try to figure out if we've gone wrong anywhere and if there's any places we can improve, which there are loads of places we can improve. "Also, I think being in the right place at the right time on track is going to help a lot." Despite not being a factor in the pole contest, Antonelli agrees with Hamilton's assessment that it will be a tight battle. The 20-year-old Italian leads both Russell and Hamilton by 59 points at the top of the standings, with Norris trailing by 83 points in fourth.
Mercedes have chosen Antonelli's home race as the most suitable venue for him to serve an inevitable penalty for exceeding his engine allowance, due to a belief that fighting back through the field in Sunday's race will be easier at Monza than most other tracks that remain on this year's schedule. Antonelli said: "Today a bit of a different day compared to usual. A lot more focused on long runs so it was a bit weird, not going to lie, but overall, it was a good day.
"We gathered a lot of data and now looking forward to the next few days. "Ferrari definitely took a step forward with a new engine and now the speeds are the same. We know how good their car is into the corners so, for sure, it's going to be a tight fight for pole tomorrow." Norris arrived in Italy full of confidence having claimed back-to-back victories in Hungary and the Netherlands to reignite his hopes of defending his drivers' title.
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