On Saturday, Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth for the Italian GP. However, due to a grid penalty, he will start from the tenth position. This is the first time the seven-time world champion will be racing at Monza as a Ferrari driver. Despite the penalty, Hamilton reflects positively on his qualifying session and makes a promise to the ecstatic tifosi who have been cheering him on all weekend.
“It’s been an incredibly good weekend,” Hamilton responded after the qualifying session on F1TV. “Especially at the start of the qualifying, I was really able to maximize. Unfortunately, the last lap is never as good as you hope. I will definitely work on that, especially when it comes to balancing the car. But as I said, the rest was good.” The British star has been notably optimistic since the summer break. For comparison, at the end of the first half of the season, he declared himself a ‘useless’ driver and suggested that Ferrari should look for a replacement.
Perhaps Hamilton feels the support of the tifosi, who have come in large numbers to cheer him on at the Temple of Speed. “Every time I turn onto the track, it’s just chaos,” he grinned. “You see the fans going wild on the left and right at the first turn. I’ve never seen anything like it. Of course, we’re not as fast as we’d like to be, but Charles Leclerc clearly feels comfortable with this car, so I’m just glad I can keep up with him to some extent. The grid penalty will make things a bit more difficult, but I’ll do my best to fight my way forward.”
