Lewis Hamilton has warned that qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza will be an exceptionally close affair, describing the prospect of clinching pole position at Ferrari’s home circuit as a "dream" scenario. The seven‑time world champion acknowledged that the competition will be fierce, with the Red Bull‑backed McLarens and his own Mercedes team both capable of delivering rapid lap times on the high‑speed track.
During Friday’s practice sessions, Hamilton found himself out‑paced by his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc. Leclerc topped the timesheets in the first free‑practice period, while the second session saw Mercedes driver George Russell claim the fastest lap, followed by Leclerc in second place.
Hamilton managed only a fifth‑place best, trailing behind Kimi Antonelli, the 20‑year‑old Italian rookie, and McLaren’s Lando Norris. Despite this modest showing, the overall performance of the Ferrari package – bolstered by a fresh engine upgrade – suggested that the team possesses the necessary speed to challenge for the top spot on the grid.
Qualifying is scheduled to be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 at 3 p.m. on Saturday, with Ferrari enjoying a two‑to‑one advantage in terms of track time over Mercedes.
This advantage stems from the fact that world championship leader Kimi Antonelli has already incurred penalties for exceeding his allocated engine components, meaning he will start from the back of the grid regardless of where he qualifies. The penalty is expected to give Ferrari a clearer path to a strong qualifying performance, as they can focus on extracting maximum pace without the distraction of a grid‑drop for their rookie driver.
When asked about the upcoming session, Hamilton said, "It’s going to be tight, it’s very close. 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." He added that securing a front‑row start or even pole at Monza would be "the ultimate dream," but cautioned that achieving it would require a significant amount of work during the final preparation hours.
"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 are 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," Hamilton explained. Antonelli, despite being out of contention for pole due to his penalty, concurred with Hamilton’s assessment that the session would be tightly contested. The young Italian currently leads the championship by 59 points over Russell, with Hamilton trailing further behind.
Norris sits fourth, 83 points adrift of the leader. Mercedes has strategically chosen Antonelli’s home race as the venue for him to serve his grid‑drop penalty, believing that the high‑speed nature of Monza will afford him a better chance to recover positions during the race compared with more technical circuits later in the season.
Speaking about his own weekend, Antonelli described the day as “a bit different” from the usual routine, noting that the focus was on longer runs rather than outright qualifying speed. He said, "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." His comments underline the belief that Ferrari’s recent engine upgrade has closed the performance gap with the front‑running teams, making the battle for the top spot at Monza far from a foregone conclusion.
McLaren’s Lando Norris entered the weekend riding a wave of confidence after back‑to‑back victories in Hungary and the Netherlands, which had revived his championship aspirations. However, the Briton admitted that the team’s performance in Italy has been disappointing, with the car struggling to find the same rhythm on a circuit that demands a different aerodynamic setup and tyre management strategy. "Not very decent. Just struggling a lot more with pace.
In the corners we expected to be good at we’re bad at and in the corners we expected to be bad at, we’re not so bad at. But we’re still off. So not in a great place at the minute.
We’ll see what we can do overnight but it’s going to be tougher than before for sure. It’s close between a lot of the guys at the top.
The guys behind are not that far either so they can easily surprise us. I definitely don’t feel we are in the fight for pole at all but we need to focus on getting a decent result," Norris said. The weekend schedule is packed with support series, beginning Saturday with an F3 sprint at 8:25 a.m., followed by the third practice session for the Grand Prix at 11:15 a.m. (the session itself starts at 11:30 a.m.).
An F2 sprint will take place at 1:10 p.m., leading into the qualifying build‑up at 2:15 p.m., and the official qualifying session will commence at 3 p.m., also simulcast on Sky Sports Main Event. The day will conclude with Ted’s Qualifying Notebook at 5 p.m. Sunday’s agenda features the F3 feature race at 7:10 a.m., the F2 feature race at 8:40 a.m., and the Porsche Supercup race at 10:40 a.m., before the main event’s build‑up at 12:30 p.m.
The Italian Grand Prix itself starts at 2 p.m., with the chequered flag expected around 4 p.m., followed by post‑race analysis and Ted’s Notebook at 5 p.m. In summary, Hamilton’s outlook reflects a realistic yet optimistic view of the challenges ahead at Monza. While Ferrari appears to have made significant strides with their new power unit, the competition from Mercedes, Red Bull‑powered McLarens, and the ever‑present threat of surprise performances from the midfield means that the fight for pole will be fiercely contested.
The outcome will hinge on how well each team can fine‑tune their setups, manage tyre wear, and execute a flawless lap when the clock starts. Fans can look forward to an exhilarating qualifying session that could set the stage for a dramatic race at one of Formula 1’s most iconic venues.