Lewis Hamilton is convinced his hopes of winning Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix are now “out the window” as he rued propping up an underwhelming sixth on the grid.
Hamilton appeared to be in contention to secure pole position at Monza as he headed both the second and third practice sessions and then mirrored that result in Q2.
However, the Briton was unable to deliver when it mattered and being 0.186s down on Lando Norris’ pole position benchmark was enough to see him wind up in sixth.
Hamilton has conceded that he did not produce a good enough lap in the crucial Q3 session, as team-mate George Russell ended up in third behind the McLaren duo.
“I wasn’t expecting more, but I was expecting to do a better job than I did,” Hamilton admitted to media including Motorsport Week.
“First one we were a bit further off the anticipated. The second we were quickest and there were small areas to improve and in the third, I just didn’t do the job.”
Expanding on his troubles to replicate his promising earlier pace in the final session, Hamilton has revealed he was on the back foot as soon as he began his last lap.
“I didn’t extract the maximum,” he expanded. “Turn 1 and 2, I lost a tenth and a half to my previous Q2 lap and then lost another tenth in Turn 11. So it’s ridiculous from my side.”
Despite close margins separating the top six spots on the grid, Hamilton has discounted the prospect of coming through the order to be in contention to win the race.
“The chance of fighting for a race win is out the window,” he bemoaned.
“Tomorrow I’ve got to try and recover as much as I can and see if I can get past the Ferraris and try challenging and get to a podium.”
