Lewis Hamilton has explained how Ferrari’s execution during Qualifying for the 2026 F1 Italian GP disrupted his rhythm despite entering the session confident in the SF-26.
Ferrari had shown encouraging pace before Qualifying at Monza, with Hamilton finishing second to George Russell in FP3. However, the Scuderia struggled to replicate that performance when it mattered. Hamilton narrowly escaped elimination in Q2, progressing by just 0.001s ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto, before eventually qualifying fifth. Charles Leclerc finished one place ahead of his teammate in fourth.
Pierre Gasly ultimately delivered a surprise pole position for Alpine, beating Russell by 0.060s, while Oscar Piastri initially completed the top three. Piastri later received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Liam Lawson in Q2, promoting Leclerc and Hamilton to third and fourth, respectively, for Sunday’s race.
Hamilton entered Qualifying confident after strong FP3
Hamilton’s difficulties came as a surprise after Ferrari had made progress overnight and produced a competitive car in final practice. The seven-time World Champion revealed that he felt comfortable enough with the car after FP3 that he did not make any changes before Qualifying. However, the timing of Ferrari’s Q2 run complicated his session.
“No, FP3 was really good. The car did a great job overnight. I was really happy with the car. I didn’t change anything going into qualifying. It was the first time ever. I felt confident. I hit the first lap in Q1. I felt solid. And then I waited to use that tyre again for Q2. I was supposed to do a push, cool, cool, push. But because everyone was waiting and Charles [Leclerc] didn’t want to go out first. We had to wait, wait, wait. And then I only got one push. And, yeah, it made it pretty challenging for us.”
That left Hamilton under considerable pressure in Q2. He sat in the elimination zone after the opening runs on used tyres before improving on his final attempt. Even then, Ferrari only just secured both cars a place in Q3. Leclerc finished the segment ninth, while Hamilton claimed tenth by the smallest of margins.
Lack of a tow disrupted Hamilton’s Q3 rhythm
Slipstreaming played an important role throughout the session at Monza, where gaining a tow on the long straights can deliver a significant lap-time advantage. Other teams actively used their drivers to help one another. Mercedes, for example, deployed Kimi Antonelli to provide Russell with a tow, while Ferrari struggled to position Hamilton in the same way.
Hamilton explained that his first Q3 run began considerably later than those of his rivals, leaving him without another car ahead and forcing him to adapt his approach.
“And then in my Q3, I didn’t have any wheels on the car, basically. And everyone left whilst my engine was running. But I went out like 25 seconds behind. And that just put me out of rhythm. Because when you’re following another car, when you’re in that tow, you arrive much faster, so the braking zones are different. And when you’re on your own, you lose the tows. A lot of time lost in the tows.“
The first runs illustrated how finely balanced the fight at the front was. Russell initially led Piastri by only 0.037s, with Gasly another 0.035s behind. Leclerc sat just 0.003s behind Gasly, meaning even small differences in track position and slipstream could influence the final order.
Hamilton highlights Alpine’s teamwork
Hamilton also pointed towards Alpine when discussing the importance of cooperation between teammates at Monza. Gasly and Franco Colapinto had already demonstrated the value of the tow earlier in Qualifying, with both Alpine drivers featuring prominently during Q1.
Gasly went on to convert the team’s strong showing into a remarkable pole position. Asked about the importance of teammates working together effectively around the high-speed circuit, Hamilton praised what he had seen from Alpine.
“What I can say is Pierre [Gasly] did a great job. But clearly, looking from a distance, it looked like they worked really well as a team.“
Gasly ultimately set a 1:21.786 to secure pole, beating Russell by six hundredths of a second and claiming Alpine’s first pole position of the season.
Ferrari left searching for answers over Q2 pace
Ferrari’s difficulties did not only come down to track position. Hamilton also admitted he could not immediately explain why the team lost so much competitiveness between Q1 and Q2. The Briton had finished eighth in the opening segment with a 1:22.847. However, despite improving to a 1:22.516 in Q2, the relative performance of Ferrari dropped as its rivals found considerably more lap time.
Hamilton suggested tyre-related factors could have contributed but stressed that Ferrari would need to investigate the issue before drawing firm conclusions.
“No, I don’t really fully understand why we were lacking so much pace in Q2. Because we should have had pace like we did in the first one. But everyone just advanced forward. So I don’t know if that’s tyre pressure. I’m not quite sure I need to look into that. I think at the end was that there was no. The team was solely focused on trying to get an equal tow for each driver. As I said, we just stumbled.“
Despite Ferrari’s difficulties, only 0.007s separated Leclerc and Hamilton at the end of Qualifying, with the pair taking fourth and fifth, respectively, before Piastri’s penalty altered the starting order of the Italian GP.
Piastri penalty gives Ferrari a stronger starting position
Although Hamilton initially qualified fifth, Ferrari received a boost after the session when Piastri came under investigation for impeding Lawson during Q2. At the time of appearing in the media pen, the stewards had yet to confirm their decision.
Hamilton nevertheless recognised that a penalty for the McLaren driver would move both Ferraris forward and give the team a stronger opportunity to challenge Russell and Gasly.
“Well, that’s positive. It’s definitely positive progress. That puts us in a fighting chance, hopefully, with George [Russell]. That’s one Mercedes up front. So hopefully that gives us a chance to work as a team to try and top it up.“
The stewards subsequently handed Piastri the standard three-place grid penalty, dropping him from third to sixth. As a result of Piastri’s post Qualifying penalty, Leclerc will start the Italian GP from third, with Hamilton alongside him in fourth and Verstappen promoted to fifth. Ferrari therefore enters its home race with both cars on the second row despite a Qualifying session that Hamilton felt left considerable performance on the table.
