“The team deserves better, maybe they’ll get that with Kimi Antonelli”: Lewis Hamilton's self-critical verdict about his F1 Italian GP qualifying

Lewis Hamilton insinuated that he believes that his replacement Kimi Antonelli will do a good job at Mercedes, and added that the team deserves better while criticizing his own qualifying performance at the Italian GP on Saturday. The seven-time world champion was less than pleased with himself as he qualified P6 at the end of a very close qualifying session at the Monza track.

Heading into the session, the Brit was very much in contention for pole position given he had topped FP2 and showcased great pace in FP3 ahead of qualifying. He managed to get close to the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on his first run in the Q3 session but could not replicate the same pace in his final run.

In an interview with Sky Sports, Lewis Hamilton spoke about the disappointment of the session and said:

"I will be kicking myself for the next couple of hours but I need to move forward. We have a good race car, and the team have done an amazing job. The car felt better and the team deserved better. Maybe they will get that with Kimi [Antonelli]."

Ahead of the FP3 session, Mercedes had announced that Kimi Antonelli would be replacing Lewis Hamilton on the team for the 2025 season, and will drive alongside George Russell.

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Lewis Hamilton analyzes his P6 finish at the Italian GP qualifying session

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton stated that he was furious with himself as he believed that he could have gotten pole position for the Italian Grand Prix main race on Sunday.

As quoted by the aforementioned source, the 39-year-old said:

"I am furious, absolutely furious. I could have been on the pole, at least on the front row. I just didn't do the job. I lost a tenth and a half into Turn One, and then a tenth in the last corner."

"No one to blame by myself. Qualifying has been my weakness for a minute now and I can't figure it out. I will keep trying," he added.

It was extremely close between the top six as the seven-time world champion was only 0.077s behind Oscar Piastri, who finished in P2 and 0.186s behind the pole-sitter Lando Norris.

The British driver had an opportunity to fight for the podium on Sunday, given the Mercedes W15 looked competitive to their rivals in the long run during the FP2 session.