Hamilton aiming to ensure Ferrari's 70th celebrations do not get a race-winning ending; Title rivals expect another close battle
Saturday 30 September 2017 09:11, UK
Lewis Hamilton hopes Mercedes can play the role of party poopers on Ferrari's 70th anniversary celebrations in an Italian GP battle he expects to be just as close as the one in Belgium last week.
On a weekend Hamilton can dislodge Sebastian Vettel from the head of the Drivers' Championship for the first time in 2017, Mercedes mirrored their fast start at Spa seven days ago by finishing one-two in both Friday practice sessions at Monza.
Hamilton dominated team-mate Valtteri Bottas last weekend, with the Finn only fifth at Spa, but the Mercedes drivers were more closely-matched on day one in Italy, with Bottas leading a one-two in second practice ahead of the Ferraris.
Hamilton would take the outright points lead if he wins on Sunday and Vettel is third or lower and the Englishman is fully aware of the wider significance a Mercedes one-two would have.
"Right now it looks great," he told Sky Sports News on Friday evening.
"Valtteri did a great lap today so if we can lock out the front row that would be amazing. We really don't know, Ferrari could up the ante. We'll see.
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"But if we could that would be great to have a buffer between us and Ferraris, whether Valtteri is ahead or vice versa, and stopping them getting a top-two finish would be pretty special - particularly on their 70th anniversary weekend."
Ferrari are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the company's first racing car and are holding a demonstration of cars from across the decades ahead of the race.
Hamilton has regularly spoken about his admiration for the Italian marque in the past but, in the heat of the tightest of title duels, the Mercedes man is aiming to ensure the weekend-long celebrations are topped off with a win for the home team.
"Happy 70th, but hopefully it won't be a happy one on Sunday!" added Hamilton. "We're doing everything we can to spoil their weekend."
However, achieving the one-two target is certainly easier said than done after the title rivals were separated by just a tenth of a second on Friday around F1's fastest track.
"It's going to be a tough weekend," Hamilton told SSN. "The long run race is definitely not so easy."
He added: "It's a bit like last week in terms of how close it is between us and Ferrari.
"Ferrari do different things compared to us on the day, but I'm not really watching them. P2 wasn't as great as P1, there's work to do."
Ferrari insist 'we can go quicker'
Buoyed by their victory near-miss at Spa, Ferrari have arrived at their home race in confident mood as they go in search of a first Monza win in seven years.
Outpaced by the Mercedes on Friday, Vettel acknowledged "they are very strong around here" but expressed confidence there was more to come from the home team.
"There were lots of positives although our day was a bit mixed," said Vettel, who holds a seven-point advantage over Hamilton. "I'm not entirely happy because we had some mixed running with traffic and then the Virtual Safety Car. Our long-running wasn't ideal.
"On Friday, you just do what you think is best. Sometimes you show more, sometimes you show less. We are ok, but we are not quite where l think we can be. I know and we know we have to improve to go with them. They are very quick. We can improve the car if we sort a couple things out.
"We can go quicker today but how much l don't know."
