05/09/2025 21:00
Lewis Hamilton maintains it is better to suffer his five-place grid
penalty at Monza "now than next year" after a strong Friday for the
British driver. The 40-year-old topped FP1 for the Italian Grand
Prix, pipping Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in front of the
Scuderia's adoring fans. Despite falling to fifth-fastest in the
second hour of running, the seven-time F1 drivers' champion was in
high spirits ahead of the rest of the weekend. "It's pretty
incredible," Hamilton said after the second free practice session
at the Temple of Speed. "Yeah, an amazing feeling leaving the
garage. "Just the whole experience, just being... while I'm in
blue," he joked. "I joined the team to be in red. "But, yeah, being
in the garage, the experience we had on Thursday with the Tifosi in
Milan, and then to come here and drive out the garage in a red car,
it's all I ever thought it would be, and more," he added in
reflection. "FP1 was a good session, and then FP2 we made some
changes and the car was a bit worse - the good thing is we can go
back on that." Hamilton insists 'it will continue' Elaborating on
his on-track exploits at Monza, Hamilton highlighted how he would
rather endure the hardship of the penalty he received in Zandvoort
this season than next year, when he hopes to have a more
competitive package to work with. It has been a difficult first
season at Ferrari for the 105-time grand prix winner. He has
struggled to adapt to the SF-25, and the car has taken a relative
step back in performance compared to the leading McLaren. "FP1 was
feeling really, really strong, and FP2 was definitely much more of
a struggle, but it's better to have that in FP2 and learn from that
rather than FP3, so lots of positives to take from today, and we'll
do some work overnight, and I hope that tomorrow we can be better,"
Hamilton said. "The McLarens are obviously still very, very fast,
and I think it's very close with everyone in the top five and top
10, so it'll be a challenge. "And it's not easy to overtake. And
I've obviously got that penalty, which is unfortunate, but better
to have it now than next year, I guess." Nonetheless, Hamilton is
feeling positive about the rest of the weekend, despite his looming
punishment. "Wherever I qualify, I'm starting five places back from
that, which is not great, and I think it's gonna be really
difficult to overtake us," he pointed out. "We're all so close...
"I do feel optimistic. I still feel like I could potentially move
forward. I was much happier with the car today, so I hope that
continues tomorrow - it will continue tomorrow, because I'll make
the changes tonight and come with a fresh head tomorrow."
