Hamilton shares Monza qualifying plans with Ferrari priority on his side

Hamilton is set for his second qualifying session in Ferrari red at the Monza circuit this Saturday. On the first day, he set the fifth-fastest time in FP2, finishing around four-and-a-half tenths of a second behind his former teammate, George Russell.

Looking ahead to qualifying, Hamilton was clear about his plan to challenge for the best spot on the grid. The seven-time world champion said: "Well, the tow is everything here, so likely to be looking for the tow."

After the Dutch Grand Prix, Ferrari has been suggested by various analysts and pundits to support Hamilton over Charles Leclerc in order to have an impact on this year's title battle against the Mercedes drivers.

This weekend, Hamilton will have priority, although this is not because Ferrari is supporting him over his teammate. Instead, it is simply his turn, Leclerc explained on Thursday.

The Monegasque previously driver told GPblog, among others: "For the slipstream, I think we've always had kind of the same philosophy over the years, where it's one time Lewis has a priority to kind of choose where he wants to start and and one weekend it is me.

"This weekend Lewis will have the priority, so I guess he'll go for the slipstream. Whether we are going to compromise one's qualifying rather than the other, I don't think that will happen. But, of course, if we can help each other trying to start the lap at the optimum kind of distance between each other, that will be done," Leclerc explained.

The seven-time world champion also commented on his team's issues on Friday. The Briton said: "Straight line speed is considerable. Just looking at the deltas, I was losing something like six tenths to George just in the straights, which is something we need to look at look into.