Mixed fortunes for Mercedes at Monza

To defend oneself in the middle of a circuit acquired in the cause of Team Ferrari, it's better to be at your best. Failed initial objective for Mercedes, because Toto wolff could only really count on the chances of Lewis Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas has in fact once again shown himself to be discreet, too much to be able to annoy Sebastian Vettel et pole sitter Kimi Räikkönen.

So let's start with the good news: Lewis Hamilton fought for pole. Which was not really a certainty before making the trip to Monza (Italy), because the German engine block had shown signs of failure against the Italian units a week earlier at Spa-Francorchamps. “We greatly improved the car overnight from Friday to Saturday and I’m happy with where we are today.”, indicates the Briton.

It's so close between us, they did a solid job today. Everyone in our team is working as hard as they can to make a difference. The race is now our focus and we're looking forward to fighting hard tomorrow #ItalianGP #F1 @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/ZYGGhKFFF4

- Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) September 1, 2018

“I am particularly proud of my men who work so hard, we have really extracted the full potential from the car this time. » Lewis Hamilton was indeed in the lead after the first attempt at Q3, but did not produce a perfect lap afterwards.

“It was an exciting session! I knew the Ferraris were going to find some time in their last attempt, even if I think second place was doable. I maybe lost a tenth in the last turn (the Parabolic) and this is the difference between second and third position. »

Lewis Hamilton will now look for a way to jump on one of the two red cars at the start on Sunday at 15:10 p.m. « Their long relay is better than ours, so it won't be easy. I hope that the start will create an opportunity for me to come back up. All I have to do now is rack my brains to find a way to overtake at least one of the two Ferraris on the first lap. »

His teammate Valtteri Bottas must for its part look for a way to make up for its delay on the leading trio. The Finn accused more than half a second behind his compatriot Kimi Räikkönen. " It was a difficult day. We made changes to the car settings in FP3. It was better in the corners but we lost braking performance. It has become too easy to lock the wheels. »

On the fastest track on the calendar, the rare braking is important. “You definitely have to have confidence in these brakes here; I have never been able to do it. I made a mistake when negotiating the first corner in the initial run of Q3, and afterward it was difficult to take it well. He explains.