Lewis Hamilton lamented that Ferrari’s handling of the final phase of qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix was "pretty bad," especially after the Scuderia’s hopes of fighting for pole position on Saturday evaporated. Expectations had been high for the home team at Monza, a circuit where Ferrari traditionally excels, but the team never truly entered the mix during the knockout sessions. In the decisive Q3, three Mercedes‑powered cars out‑paced the Italians, with Alpine’s surprise pole‑sitter Pierre Gasly taking the top spot. Because Oscar Piatri received a three‑place grid penalty, Charles Leclerc and Hamilton will still line up on the second row, occupying third and fourth places respectively.
That outcome could be seen as a small blessing, given that Ferrari’s drivers had only managed ninth and tenth fastest times in Q2. Hamilton narrowly avoided an early elimination, edging out Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto by a razor‑thin 0.001 seconds. Reflecting on his own performance, Hamilton described a session that was "very, very tough" and highlighted the difficulty of finding a clean aerodynamic tow on a track where drivers constantly chase each other to maximise slipstream. Speaking to Sky Sports F1, the five‑time world champion said: "The car felt great in practice and in qualifying I didn’t change anything, so I went into Q1 feeling confident and Q1 was solid.
Then we sat and waited a long time in the pit lane for the first run of Q2, and for some reason we just didn’t have the pace. I’m not really sure why—maybe tyre pressures, tyre temperatures, something else—we need to investigate that." He went on to criticise the execution in Q3, explaining that he found himself "out in the middle of nowhere" with no reference car to follow.
"When you’re following another car you arrive several kilometres per hour faster into a corner, so the braking points shift. It’s all about getting into a rhythm, and I lost that rhythm in the first Q3 run.
In the second run the lap wasn’t terrible, but the reference points were all different, and we never maximised the car’s potential," Hamilton added. Leclerc, who finished third in the session, echoed the sentiment, calling the qualifying a "big struggle" and citing "many issues in the background" that the team had to contend with. He noted that the circuit is one of the toughest on the power unit, making it hard to extract maximum performance.
Nevertheless, he praised Alpine’s execution, saying they "did everything perfect" and surprised the paddock with a flawless performance. Leclerc concluded that while pole was out of reach, a one‑place improvement was realistic, and the team needed to focus on maximising every aspect of the car. Despite the Saturday setbacks, Ferrari remains at the sharp end of the Sunday grid and cannot be written off as a race‑winning contender. Mercedes’ George Russell is likely to start from second and will be the favourite, but the Italian team still has a chance, especially with an upgraded power unit introduced for Monza.
Hamilton acknowledged that Mercedes still enjoys a straight‑line speed advantage, even though Ferrari’s car feels "really great" and the team has worked hard on the upgrade. "All the cars ahead of us have Mercedes engines, and we’ve done a good job to be as close as we are, but they’re still gaining several tenths on the straight. That’s the reality, so we have to do the best we can," Hamilton said. He added that he hopes for future circuits that don’t rely as heavily on outright power, but expressed gratitude to the Ferrari factory for delivering the upgrade.
Leclerc highlighted that the race could still offer strategic opportunities, particularly in how energy is deployed over the high‑speed lap. While Mercedes is strong on the straights and Ferrari is competitive in the corners, the Italians will be exposed on the long straight sections, making overtaking difficult. However, clever energy management could create windows for attack, and the team will need to be smart about when to push and when to conserve. The weekend schedule continues with a packed programme: the F3 Feature Race at 7:10 am, the F2 Feature Race at 8:40 am, the Porsche Supercup at 10:40 am, followed by the Grand Prix build‑up and the main race at 2 pm.
The Italian Grand Prix will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 and also available on Sky Sports Main Event. Viewers can stream via NOW with a flexible, no‑contract subscription. The race promises an exciting showdown between Ferrari’s home advantage and Mercedes’ straight‑line supremacy, with strategic energy deployment likely to be the decisive factor in the final laps.