Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BRING IT ON
Lewis is aiming for history in Monza and says he’ll wipe the smile off Vettel’s face
SEBASTIAN VETTEL has a seven-point Championship lead and a smile on his face.
But Lewis Hamilton plans to wipe both away this weekend in front of a packed house at Monza.
The stands will be full of Ferrari fans urging Vettel to victory at the Temple of Speed, but after his victory in last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Hamilton is buoyant.
The Mercedes driver can take over at the top of the Drivers’ table tomorrow – a track where he has already tasted victory three times.
Hamilton said: “This weekend the ultimate goal is obviously to win, to put a dent in that lead that he has had all season. 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 position, winning two of them and finishing second last year to now-retired team-mate and eventual title winner
Nico Rosberg.
He also won in 2012 with Mclaren.
Another pole position today would be a Formula
One record, after Hamilton equalled former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher’s 68 in Belgium last weekend, and looks highly likely. Ferrari have not won a drivers’ championship for a decade, with Vettel’s current team-mate Kimi Raikkonen the last in 2007.
Vettel is the first Ferrari driver to lead the championship at Monza since Fernando Alonso in 2012 but Hamilton will not be intimidated by the home support for his rival. “I have in the past, many years ago, felt that I was in the enemy’s back garden,” he said.
“But in the last four or five years I’ve had such a great welcome here even from the Ferrari fans. It’s much appreciated. Every time I come I feel at home.
“I love it here ... when you turn up and see the fans at the gate, there’s a lot of Ferrari fans there, but at least 50 per cent of them say ‘Forza Ferrari, come to Ferrari’. I just say thank you. It’s a compliment.
“If it’s a battle of how much support you have, I have no problems.”