San Francisco Frontiers - Hamilton worried by Ferrari pace while Antonelli prepares for a fight

Meanwhile championship leader Kimi Antonelli, relegated to the back of the grid following an engine change said he just hoped to pick up some points.

Hamilton, the seven-time champion, was bidding for an outright record sixth pole at Monza where he shares the record of five with Ferrari great Michael Schumacher, said he felt the Mercedes-powered cars ahead remained faster.

"I think we have a really great car," he said. "It's all Mercedes engines up ahead of us and I think we've done a good job to be as close to them as we are, but they ultimately gain several tenths on the straight.

"It is what it is. We just have to do the best we can. We're hoping for tracks that don't rely too much on power hopefully in the future.

"I'm really grateful to the guys back in the factory because they did bring an upgrade here. They are really pushing, but this is just the situation we're in."

Hamilton again struck a note of criticism of the team strategy, saying it left him with no rhythm in his driving.

"The execution in Q3 was pretty bad. I ended up out in the middle of nowhere with nobody," he said, referring to the need for a tow in slipstreaming on the high-speed Monza circuit.

"When you're following another car, you arrive several kilometres faster into a corner so the braking distances adjust.

"It's all about getting into rhythm and I got really out of rhythm for Q3 run one and then Q3 run two. It wasn't a terrible lap, but as I said, the references were all different."

- 'Score points if possible' -

Antonelli, doomed to the back row, said he tried to help title rival and team-mate George Russell.

"It's what I have to do," he said after qualifying seventh. "The team asked me and, of course, I did what I had to do. I tried to help as much as possible.

"It's a bit weird going in two, even the lap I did alone was a bit of a weird feeling. Overall, with the penalty, I had to be a good team-mate and I had to help as much as I could.

"I think I did a good job with that and I'm happy it worked out."

He added that he expected a tough battle in Sunday's race, but hoped to score points if possible.

"We're going to try to stay out of trouble in the first two chicanes and then obviously try to clear the traffic as quickly as possible in the first few laps and then try to chase the faster cars.

"It will be difficult, but I am going to try to enjoy it."

O.Green--SFF