Italian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton says upgraded Ferrari engine ‘has taken a step forward, but it’s not all we need’

Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc have won one race this season, with the Briton 59 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes.

“To win this weekend, the whole team has to come together. Everything has to flow from the beginning,” Hamilton said.

“There is a first ahead, in the sense that if I win I would enter new territory by winning for the first time in Ferrari at Monza. It would be phenomenal.”

“The pressure is high. You want to do it for the team. Many of them will come to this race. The tifosi come out in large numbers with unmatched passion.

“And my mother is here. I don’t think she’s been to Monza, and certainly not (while I was) with Ferrari. I wanted her to experience this and bring all the lucky dust she could bring.”

Ferrari’s hopes of a home win are boosted by the fact that Italian Antonelli will take a grid penalty for exceeding the permitted number of engine parts and will likely start from the back.

Hamilton said: “There is a big gap between the top teams and the rest. Kimi will start from the back, but with the power he has and the performance he has, he should slip through that pack quite easily and that’s probably why they chose this race to do it.”

“So getting to eighth or sixth should be relatively easy. We have to focus on maximizing our weekend and trying to harness the energy of the tifosi to hopefully take us to the front.”

Antonelli’s grid penalty was inevitable at some point after reliability issues earlier in the year meant they would have to exceed their four-engine allocation for the season.

They chose this weekend because they calculated that it was the most optimal race to do it, both in terms of the effect of a new engine on a track dominated by straights, and in terms of managing their engine fleet for the rest of the year.

Teammate George Russell will also have an engine penalty, most likely in Azerbaijan in two races.

Antonelli said: “I’m really looking forward to this weekend despite starting from the back. I’ll be able to enjoy it more than before and I hope we can still have a good race.”

“In a way it helps release pressure, although I would prefer to fight for pole and start at the front.

“It relaxes me a little more going into the weekend. I think this track can be very good for us, but we have to take into account that McLaren, Ferrari and even Red Bull can be good this weekend.”

“There are other tracks where it is possible to overtake, but this one requires a lot of energy and there are many places where you can race differently and that gives us the best opportunity to climb positions.”

Antonelli referred to the lack of power because the hybrid engines will run out of battery for a greater percentage of the lap at Monza than in most races this year, due to the long straights and lack of recovery opportunities.

Drivers are expecting a difficult and frustrating weekend, with slipstream, which saves energy by reducing drag, becoming an important feature in qualifying and the grand prix.

Antonelli said he expected speed to stabilize on the straights but not drop significantly, and that the situation would be “better than many expected.”