Monza (Italy) (AFP)

Lewis Hamilton will start on pole for the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday at Monza after beating his teammate Valtteri Bottas in qualifying and breaking the record for this fast circuit at the wheel of his Mercedes.

The six-time British world champion took his 94th pole position on Saturday, the 7th at Monza, where the superiority of his team was again overwhelming.

The Mercedes are ahead of Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr.'s McLaren and Mexican Sergio Pérez's Racing Point, who will start from the second row on the grid.

"It was not that easy," said Lewis Hamilton, however, indicating that Valtteri Bottas had been very close to him and had forced him to look for the best settings for his car.

The British champion therefore leaves the favorite for the race on Sunday, which will start at 3:00 p.m.

He has already won 5 victories this season, one for Bottas and another for Max Verstappen (Red Bull).

This year he aims to equal the record number of world titles (7) of the German Michael Schumacher.

He could also soon beat his record for Grand Prix victories which is 91 while Hamilton has 89.

For the first time, the F1 teams were no longer allowed in Monza to use the "party mode", which increases the engine power for a short period of time.

That didn't stop Mercedes cars from proving that they were still very far ahead of their rivals.

"We had already warned that it would not make a big difference," Lewis Hamilton recalled on Saturday.

"I'm a little disappointed to be second," conceded Bottas, who seems to be resigned to occupying a jump seat next to his teammate.

As for Carlos Sainz Jr., he interfered for the second time this season in the top three in qualifying.

"From the first part of qualifying, I told myself that I had a car to do it," he said after having been unlucky several times in the race recently.

- "What a mess !"

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The disappointment again came from the Ferraris who will go very far on their favorite track.

The German Sebastian Vettel was even eliminated in the first part of qualifying, his Monegasque teammate Charles Leclerc managing to pass to the second part to be eliminated there as well.

"What a mess!", Exclaimed Sebastian Vettel after his elimination, believing that the pilots had hampered each other by trying to benefit from the suction to gain top speed.

This is the worst result for Ferrari at Monza since 1969 as the Scuderia is due to celebrate the 1000th Grand Prix in its history next week at the Mugello circuit.

Max Verstappen, the only one this year to have managed to snatch a victory from the Mercedes, could not do better than 5th time.

Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) is 7th and his teammate Esteban Ocon 12th.

The peculiarities of the Milan circuit, where the very long straights allow very high speeds to be reached, push the drivers to ride "in bundles" to take advantage of the suction of the single-seater in front of them.

This gave rise to some impressive scenes, especially during the 1st part of qualifying when all the cars were on the track, their drivers driving in a very tight peloton.

Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) grabbed 10th place, Romain Grosjean (Haas) finding himself relegated to 16th position.

© 2020 AFP