LEW’S VETTEL FACE-OFF

Hamilton out to be the one smiling at Monza

LEWIS HAMILTON wants to wipe the smile off title leader Sebastian Vettel’s face in front of his own Ferrari fans tomorrow.

Hamilton is just seven points behind Vettel after the Brit narrowly won last Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.

But the triple champion can take over at the top if he is victorious again tomorrow at Monza, Italy’s ‘Temple of Speed’, which should ideally suit his Mercedes racer.

Hamilton topped yesterday’s first practice session times but was second in the afternoon behind Finnish team-mate Valtteri Bottas, with Vettel third-fastest in both sessions.

“This weekend the ultimate goal is obviously to win, to put a dent in that lead that he’s had all season,” said Hamilton.

“He’s had that smile on his face all year long, so I’m looking forward to turning that upside down.”

Hamilton has started the last three Italian Grands Prix on pole, winning two of them.

He finished second last year behind now-retired team-mate and eventual title ® from JAMES MURRAY winner Nico Rosberg and also won in 2012 with McLaren.

Another pole position today would be a record, after Hamilton equalled former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher’s tally of 68 in Belgium last weekend.

Ferrari have not won the drivers’ championship since Vettel’s team-mate Kimi Raikkonen triumphed in 2007, as the German took his four titles with Red Bull.

Manic

He is the first Ferrari driver to lead the championship at Monza since Fernando Alonso in 2012.

But Hamilton is determined to beat him in front of the Tifosi, the manic Ferrari fans he has grown to love.

“I have in the past, many years ago, felt that I was in the enemy’s back garden,” said Hamilton.

“But in the last four or five years I’ve had such a great welcome here, even from the Ferrari fans.

“Every time I come, I feel at home. I love it here. When you turn up and see the fans

at the gate, there are a lot of Ferrari fans there, but at least 50 per cent of them say ‘Forza Ferrari... come to Ferrari’.

“It’s a compliment. If it’s a battle of how much support you have, I have no problems.”

Hamilton knows he must win at Monza before he goes into the long-haul Asian races – in Singapore on September 17 and then Malaysia and Japan – where Ferrari will be harder to beat.

He added: “It’s been a good day, a clean day but we are not quite where I think we can be.

“We got the running done, we got through our programme with no problems. The car seems nicely balanced here. We just have some work to do to eke out a little bit more performance.

“It looks quite close between us and the Ferraris, so I anticipate it’s going to be similar to the last race in that sense.”

Vettel, still smiling, said: “We need to improve a little bit here and there, then we should have a better day tomorrow.

“We need better car balance, stability and braking, which is important around here to get the confidence.

“You are on low down force and you need to have the confidence to throw the car in without thinking.”