Hamilton hoping to spoil Ferrari 70th party

Lewis Hamilton wants to make Ferrari’s 70^th anniversary celebrations in Formula 1 at its home race an unhappy event with victory at Monza but concedes the gap between Mercedes and Ferrari remains a slim and uncomfortable margin.

The Mercedes driver topped the opening free practice session in cooler conditions but was forced to settle for second behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the second session having struggled in the warmer temperatures.

Both Mercedes drivers remained less than two-tenths ahead of the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel to set-up an intense battle for pole position and victory at Monza where the Italian manufacturer is running a special livery to mark its 70^th anniversary in the sport.

Hamilton, who pinpointed winning at Spa and Monza as key to his title credentials this year after the summer break, is duly aiming for back-to-back wins to deny Ferrari a potential first victory at the Italian circuit since 2010.

“Happy 70^th to Ferrari but hopefully it won’t be a happy one!” Hamilton said. “The gap between us is almost identical between here for the past month or so. Time will tell I really don’t know.

“I think Ferrari look quite close, there is only one-tenth between us, but tomorrow we will have a good idea. They go slow in FP1 then a little bit faster in FP2 then slow in FP3 then faster in Q1 and Q2. It is difficult to know at the moment.

“I don’t know if it is coming tomorrow but I will get that pole position. The plan is to get it tomorrow but we will see, the Ferraris on their home turf will be upping the ante tomorrow but we will do everything we can to spoil it.”