This was British drivers first pole in eight races dating back to the Spanish Grand Prix
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain gives the victory sign after setting the pole position in the qualifying session at the Monza racetrack, in Monza
Monza: Britain’s 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton showed little emotion when on Saturday he finally ended championship leader and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg’s supremacy in qualifying by taking pole position for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.
It was the 29-year-old’s first pole in eight races dating back to the Spanish Grand Prix on May 10 and one that enhanced his hopes of trimming the German’s 29-points lead in the title race, with seven races remaining.
But, two weekends on from their collision on the second lap of the Belgian Grand Prix, neither Hamilton nor Rosberg was prepared to give vent to his feelings in the wake of a tense contest of outright pace at one of the sport’s ancient temples of speed.
Hamilton clocked a best lap of one minute and 24.109 seconds to take pole by more than two-tenths of a second ahead of the German, a gulf that endorsed the theory that it is
the Briton who has the greater capacity for natural speed.
The battling duo, once allegedly good friends, but hardly good teammates, barely acknowledged one another as they climbed from their cars. There was no handshake and no genuine eye contact. It was Hamilton’s first pole in four months, his fifth this season and the 36th pole of his career. Finn Valtteri Bottas was third fastest ahead of his Williams team-mate Brazilian Felipe Massa.
( Source : AFP )
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