Hamilton wants to team up with Leclerc to hunt down Russell at Monza

Leclerc and Hamilton finished fourth and fifth in qualifying, respectively, but both drivers gained a position due to the three-place grid penalty Oscar Piastri received for impeding Liam Lawson in Q2. "Well, that's positive, and it's definitely positive to progress," the seven-time world champion told GPblog, among others.

Hamilton continued: "That puts us in with a fighting chance, hopefully, with George. That's one Mercedes up front. So hopefully that gives us a chance to work as a team to try and topple them. I mean George has the fastest car, and that's clear. We're lacking on the straights still, and that's just the way it is."

Entering the Italian Grand Prix, Hamilton has a considerable gap in the standings to championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

About Ferrari's approach, Hamilton told GPblog, among others: "I think at the end was the team was solely focused on trying to get an equal tow for each driver. And we just, as I said, we just stumbled."

The British driver was then asked why he believed team cooperation continues to not be quite where it should. "It's not a question for me. You have to ask Fred."

The seven-time world champion was nearly knocked out already in Q2. "I don't really fully understand why we were lacking so much pace in Q2 because we should have had pace like we did in the first one," Hamilton said. "But everyone just advanced forward. So I don't know if that's tyre pressure. Not quite sure. I need to look into that."