Hamilton downbeat on Monza hopes: I might bring my iPad!

Lewis Hamilton has played down his hopes of being able to make swift progress through the field in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, fearing he'll be stuck in a DRS train.

The Briton ended Saturday's qualifying session in fifth place, but will start the race in 19th spot after a penalty for exceeding his season's quota of power units.

But despite Mercedes generally having the third-fastest car this season, Hamilton said he was fearful of being stuck in a sequence of slipstreaming cars that would not be easy to overtake.

"I was behind Valtteri [Bottas] in practice and I couldn’t catch him nor pass him, so I hope I don’t get stuck [behind other cars in the race]," Hamilton told media including RacingNews365.com.

"But I'm imagining everyone's going to be in a DRS train and it's just going to be sitting there and just waiting for strategy and tyre degradation and those sorts."

Hamilton praying for Safety Cars

The Briton quipped that he would be so bored stuck behind other cars that he may as well while away the time watching shows on his iPad, but added that he was hoping for a topsy-turvy race to help him vault up the order.

"I hope that there's Safety Cars and all those sorts of things," said Hamilton.

"I've been so unfortunate with the Safety Car timings this year, it would be nice to have a nice SC offering tomorrow.

"I was thinking of just taking my iPad with me in the race and when I'm in the DRS line watching the new Game of Thrones."