Lewis Hamilton's stark admission: “I am just not very good at qualifying”

Lewis Hamilton delivered a frustrated response to his latest qualifying woes in Italy.

The Mercedes driver qualified in sixth for the F1 Italian Grand Prix despite topping two out of three practice sessions.

Hamilton has beaten teammate George Russell in qualifying only four out of 16 times this season.

“I’m not very good. Simple as,” a gutted Hamilton said afterwards. “Simple as that…

“I am just not very good at qualifying.”

The interview responded: “But you haven’t just suddenly got bad?”

Hamilton said: “I clearly have. I can’t put a lap together. It’s unbelievably frustrating.

“I’ll keep working at it. That’s all I can do.”

Hamilton has already ruled out victory in Sunday’s grand prix.

Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Russell, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are the five drivers who will line up ahead of him.

Max Verstappen will be seventh, a place behind Hamilton.

But despite the promise of a positive weekend after Friday’s pace, a miserable Saturday might again have cost Hamilton.

Qualifying has become a rare Achilles’ heel for the seven-time F1 champion.

That is despite Hamilton having an all-time record 104 pole positions.

He told Sky Sports: “Qualifying has been my weakness for a minute now, and I can’t figure it out.”

Meanwhile, teammate Russell was delighted with Saturday at Monza.

“Ending up P3 is a little bit better than I expected,” he said.

“It was a really tough session, Q1 and Q2, and fortunately we saved it until the end. We’re not too far behind the McLarens; they’re so fast at the moment.

“We’re working so hard to catch them up, but I’m super happy with third.

“I think it’s going to be a tight battle. Everybody’s so close out there. It’s so exciting for F1.

“We’ve all been waiting for this competition and knowing if you do a great job, you’ve got a chance of victory. I’m pretty pumped.

“I’ll get some nice pizza tonight to fuel me up and a bit of extra weight, so not too light tomorrow! Hopefully we can fight for a good result.”