Lewis Hamilton has a pointed out to having good car reliability as the only positive from Sunday’s Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix where he finished fifth, Afrosport reports.
It was one place gained having started the race in sixth place in his Mercedes but finished the race behind 22 seconds behind winner Charles Leclerc in what was a home victory for Ferrari.
Hamilton admitted that other cars had good reliability but his Mercedes was no match for the Ferrari, believing the Scuderia would still have overtaken him if he were ahead of them during the race.
“The only positive is that we have good reliability, but everyone around us did too,” the seven-time world champion said. “Ultimately we didn’t have the race pace. I am not sure why.
“Even if I started further ahead, it would’ve been hard. If I was ahead of the Ferraris they would have come out ahead because they had more pace than us.
“They had an upgrade this weekend and we didn’t. That’s how it goes. There will be a race where we have an upgrade and they don’t, and we’ll be stronger, hopefully.
“It is very, very fine, small margins between all of us. Unfortunately we didn’t have the pace, and we had more deg. I could have done a one-stop but I would’ve come out in the same place.”
Buonanotte, Monza 👋 pic.twitter.com/0nEBgT5mVo
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) September 1, 2024
Hamilton sits in sixth place in the drivers’ championship with 164 points, 139 points behind leader Max Verstappen who finished one place behind the former McLaren driver in Monza.
