Hamilton’s hopes of grand slam repeat in Monza over after P1

The Briton, chasing his 50th grand prix win on Sunday, enjoyed a sunny afternoon at the Monza circuit with a fastest lap of one minute 22.801 seconds on the supersoft tyres after being second to Rosberg in the morning.

Hamilton was two tenths faster than Rosberg during the mid-session qualifying simulations, with the Ferrari pairing of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen finishing third and fourth and giving the home “tifosi” crowd some optimism for the rest of the weekend.

Lewis Hamilton’s hopes for a grand slam repeat at the Italian Grand Prix ended after the first practice on Friday.

Hamilton, a victor at the so-called Temple of Speed in each of the previous two seasons, is hoping to become the first driver since five-time champion Juan Manuel Fangio to triumph at the Italian Grand Prix for three consecutive years. Championship leader Hamilton was two tenths of a second behind in a scrappy session which saw him miss the Roggia chicane apex on three occasions.

Esteban Ocon managed just 13 laps after stopping out on track, with race control deploying the virtual safety vehicle while the Manor was cleared.

Featuring long straights and sweeping curves, Monza features the fastest speeds in Formula One.

Rosberg, who is now nine points behind Hamilton, has not won at the track, with his best result being a second in 2014.

“Overtaking is not easy here so pole position is definitely a good place to start”.

In the morning, Verstappen, Jenson Button, and Sergio Perez tested out a protective halo device created to reduce the risk of head injuries, following the deaths of F1 driver Jules Bianchi and British IndyCar driver Justin Wilson past year.

“We’re getting all the small details that are important in a contract together and we’ll sign it”, Ecclestone said.

“I’ll do a few more interviews in Italian over the course of the weekend and it’s one of the closest races to where I live, so with my family background and everything, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel more part of it than other places we go to”.

The deal is reportedly worth 68 million euros ($76 million), slightly less than the 25 million euros ($28 million) per year Ecclestone requested.

In securing the 56th pole of his career, Hamilton also joined his great hero Ayrton Senna and Fangio in claiming a record five poles at the so-called Temple of Speed.