JUST IN: “PRETTY BAD”-Lewis Hamilton Finally Speaks Out After Ferrari’s Italian GP Qualifying Nightmare…See Details 

Lewis Hamilton once again showed his frustration with Ferrari strategy after qualifying for Sunday’s 2026 F1 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

The 41-year-old British superstar qualified only fifth for what is a vital race in the context of his hopes of claiming a record eighth world title this season. He will start from P4 after McLaren star Oscar Piastri picked up a three-place grid penalty.

Surprise package Pierre Gasly of Alpine will start on pole at the ‘Temple of Speed’ while Hamilton rues a missed opportunity to make up ground on title race leader Kimi Antonelli. He starts P20 after taking a 30-place grid penalty for using engine components outside of his allotted allowance.

For seven-time world champion Hamilton it was another hugely frustrating session, hot on the heels of that acrimonious Dutch Grand Prix where he was highly critical of his team, before backtracking somewhat one day later.

This time the disappointment was even greater, coming at the team’s home race with the adoring tifosi expecting so much more from their heroes.

The worst moment at Monza on Saturday was Hamilton almost being eliminated in Q2 as he squeezed into 10th position by just .001 seconds over Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto. This after Ferrari sat waiting for what felt like an eternity to send him out.

In reality the Scuderia are lucky that they now have Charles Leclerc (qualified P4, starts P3) and Hamilton on the second row for Sunday’s race – thanks to that penalty for Piastri.

Hamilton explains Ferrari qualifying woe

Afterwards Hamilton gave two major debriefs to broadcast media and in both he relayed a similar message, in both cases clearly frustrated again by Ferrari strategy.

He told F1 TV:

“A very tough session for, I think, just in terms of getting consistency. And, ultimately, we didn’t do, I think, didn’t execute that well.

“My first lap felt really good in Q1. And I stopped to save the tyre and then went into Q2 and I was meant to do a push-cool-cool-push. But because Charles didn’t want to go out, uh, so they just delayed, delayed, delayed. And so I only got one push. And yeah… and that was basically the whole situation.”

Hamilton again criticised that Q2 strategy in an interview with Sky Sports, and also appeared to be unimpressed by what had happened during the pole shootout in Q3.

“The car felt really good in practice, and then in the qualifying, I didn’t change anything, so it felt good going into into Q1, and Q1 was solid.

‘Execution in Q3 was pretty bad’

“And then we sat, we waited very long 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, whether it’s tyre pressures, tyre temperature, or whatever.

“So we need to look into that. And then execution in Q3 was pretty bad. Obviously, I ended up out in the middle of nowhere with nobody, and then when you’re following another car, you the brake you arrive faster, several kilometres faster into a corner, so the braking distances adjust.”

Hamilton honest about Ferrari challenges

Hamilton was at pains to emphasise that not everything is bleak at Ferrari, while admitting they are still some way behind the Mercedes-powered cars at the front of the field.

“We have a really great car, I think we have a really great car. It’s all Mercedes’ engines ahead of us so I think we’ve done a good job to be as close as we are to them. But they’re gaining several tenths still on the straight and that’s… it is what it is.

“So we have to do the best we can. We’re hoping for some tracks that don’t rely, maybe, too much on power. Hopefully in the future.

“But I’m really grateful to the guys back at the factory because they did bring an upgrade here. They are really pushing, it’s just the situation that we’re in.”

F1 Schedule: What time does the Italian Grand Prix start?

Lights out at Monza is at 3pm local Italian time today (Sunday September 6). That is 2pm in the UK, 9am Eastern in the US or 6am Pacific.

Sky Sports will broadcast the race live in the UK with Channel 4 showing a highlights package later in the day.

US fans can make use of a seven-day free trial with Apple TV and watch the Hungarian GP weekend for no extra cost. To sign up to Apple TV, click here.

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