Lewis Hamilton does think Mercedes are in the fight with Ferrari after a stronger than expected practice day at the Italian Grand Prix.
While it was Charles Leclerc who led both sessions at Monza, the world champion finished just 0.068s slower in second having also set his time after a rain shower had dampened parts of the circuit.
And that, after predictions that Ferrari might run away with their home race, offered plenty of encouragement to the Mercedes driver.
“Definitely it is surprising,” Hamilton admitted. “Honestly I didn’t know what to expect this weekend but actually perhaps [we are] a little bit closer on single-lap pace. It looks like we’re going to have a fight
“We expected them to be quick on the straight which they are but there’s enough corners on which we’re able to gain it back. They’re not really that quick through the corners so it kind of balances it out.”
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A full picture was hard to obtain on Friday as conditions changed throughout, indeed while the morning started wet and ended barely dry, the afternoon started dry only for drizzle to return.
“Practice was a bit of a challenge today obviously with the weather," Hamilton noted. "It’s a bit of a pointless exercise when it’s raining because it’s all risk and no real reward.
“You are not really learning a lot. We didn’t do a huge amount of practice in that session, and then obviously with it being dry in FP2, it was much, much better for everyone."
And even with rain possible on Sunday, Hamilton admits Mercedes' focus will be on dry weather performance.
“We don’t really prepare for rain in the sense of getting the set-up for the rain," he told RaceFans. "We’re prepared to try and make the car as quick as we can do on a single lap and then deal with it once it does rain.
“So right now just really need to go through the data with a fine comb, try and see where we can improve, where I can improve as a driver.
"If there’s any performance, whether it’s gear shift points, whether it’s braking points, whether it’s using kerb or not using kerb, wherever it may be, and also the set-up to make sure we squeeze an extra bit of juice out of the car.”
