lewis Hamilton broke Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg’s recent stranglehold on pole position by qualifying ahead of the championship leader at the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday - although the rivalry between the pair remains as heated as ever. Rosberg had taken four straight poles and six of the last seven.
Hamilton clocked 1 minute, 24.109 seconds at the Monza circuit, Rosberg was second in 1:24.383 and Valtteri Bottas of Williams qualified third in 1:24.697.
It’s Hamilton’s fifth pole of the season and 36th of his career. He hasn’t started first since the Spanish GP back in May. “Tomorrow will be really good to get another 1-2 for the team,” Hamilton said. “And I hope we have some competition as that will be great for the fans.”
Rosberg enters Sunday’s race with a 29-point lead over Hamilton in the drivers’ standings - the biggest it has been all season.
A big part of that gap was built in the controversial Belgian GP two weeks ago, when Rosberg finished second after crashing into Hamilton early and sending his teammate out of the incident-packed race.
Rosberg didn’t seem interested in congratulating Hamilton on his pole position. likewise, Hamilton appeared to do his best to ignore Rosberg after both drivers got out of their cars.
After taking off his helmet, Hamilton flashed a victory sign to photographers while Rosberg appeared to frown behind him.
Rosberg was disciplined by Mercedes for the incident at Spa and while no team orders were installed, the pair was told explicitly not to make contact again.
When Hamilton was asked what effect the team’s warning would have on him Sunday, he replied: “It won’t be ringing in my ears. We are free to race. That was the decision last week so it continues as usual.”
Rosberg reportedly received a hefty fine for the Spa incident but he, too, didn’t appear ready to change tactics. “It has not changed since before we started the season,” Rosberg said. “The message has been clear. There is no real change at the moment. It is the same as always.”
Racing conditions were ideal, with sunny skies and a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit). More good weather was forecast for Sunday.