Lewis Hamilton's age suggested as a possible cause of George Russell dominating the F1 legend in qualifying by former teammate

Nico Rosberg claimed that Lewis Hamilton's age could be one of the reasons behind him being out-qualified by George Russell in Monza. The F1 legend appeared to have everything hooked throughout the qualifying session and looked like one of the favorites to secure pole position for the F1 Italian GP.

He had even topped FP2 and FP3 before heading into qualifying, which further aided the momentum. On the last flying lap, however, Hamilton was less than a tenth slower than his teammate George Russell, which led to a difference of three slots for the F1 Italian GP.

While George Russell would start the race in P3, Lewis Hamilton will be in P6. This was a topic of discussion in the Sky Sports post-qualifying coverage where Nico Rosberg said that maybe age was starting to play a role as Lewis gets closer to 40 years of age. Rosberg said (via "PlanetF1"):

“It’s natural that at some point you will start to get a little bit slower and the first place that happens is in qualifying. Now, Fernando [Alonso], 43, has until as of late, gone really, really strong so maybe things have been extending. I mean, Lewis is going to be 40 in a couple of months. That is quite an age for, of course, high-performing elite sportsman, but it’s difficult to know,” he said.

Lewis Hamilton will start the race in P6, behind both Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in P4 and P5, respectively. Hamilton will also have Max Verstappen right behind him in the P7, with the Red Bull driver looking to minimize the damage.

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Nico Rosberg points out Lewis Hamilton was quick throughout the session

Nico Rosberg was also quick to point out that Lewis Hamilton, unlike what has been the case at other points this season where George Russell has just been quicker. Lewis made a mistake into the first turn, which cost him a tenth, and that proved to be the ultimate gap in positions. Talking about Hamilton's struggles, Rosberg said (via the aforementioned source),

“What a weakness there’s somehow come about with Lewis in qualifying this year. He’s never had that in his whole career, so it’s really a first there. At least this weekend he was actually fast, listening to what he was saying, just that there were mistakes. Most other times this year, he was just not quick enough compared to George," Rosberg said.

Lewis would be looking to make up for the grid position at the start. He has the pace to secure a strong result, and it will be interesting to see if he can pull it off considering that he has a stronger race pace compared to qualifying.