Lewis Hamilton was surprised to take pole position for the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday because he felt he had driven a poor lap, he has said.
Hamilton’s time of 1 minute 24.010 seconds was good enough for pole, 0.123 seconds ahead of teammate Jenson Button and 0.237 seconds faster than Ferrari’s third-placed Felipe Massa.
“I didn’t think that lap was anywhere near good enough,” he said.
“Nonetheless, I’m happy and I’m really happy for the team because they’ve been doing a fantastic job.”
Traffic had ruined a potentially faster run, he said.
“I was up, I think, a couple of tenths in my second lap but I was in a train of cars: Kimi [Raikkonen] and two Ferraris in front.”
Despite locking out the front row, Hamilton and Button said they would not agree a strategy for negotiating the first corner of Sunday’s race.
“You can't plan turn one,” Button said.
None of the first three drivers on the grid have won at Monza before.
