Lewis Hamilton left stunned by 'mind-blowing' F1 rival advantage

Lewis Hamilton has stated Mercedes' straight-line advantage was “mind-blowing” during the Italian Grand Prix.

Hamilton endured a challenging weekend at Monza, having entered the event hoping to give the Tifosi the chance to see a Ferrari on the top step of the podium.

The seven-time champion was shuffled down the order on the opening lap after going wheel-to-wheel with team-mate Charles Leclerc at the first corner.

Forced into a recovery drive, Hamilton could only climb to sixth place - matching his lowest result of the season.

While Hamilton was content with his car through the corners, he conceded it was unable to keep up when it came to the straights.

“I was in the fight, doing good, the grip felt good, and the car felt generally decent through the corners,” Hamilton told media including RacingNews365.

“Just on the straight, we knew that they [Mercedes] were fast on the straight.

“But it was really mind-blowing just how quick they were in the straight with Mercedes power.

“That thing just keeps pulling, pulling, pulling.”

Mercedes won Sunday's race, with Kimi Antonelli rising from 19th on the grid to first place.

While Antonelli displayed strong pace in the early stages to rise through the field, a stop under a virtual safety car further aided his route to victory - but Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur insisted such a stop was not possible for Hamilton.

"The pace was huge,” Vasseur said. "And on top of this, he also had the capacity to stop because he had the top speed to overtake and to come back. 

“A good example is the last VSC. I think we had the same gap with Max before and after the VSC.

"But in our case, if you pit, you are behind Tunoda and Gasly and I'm not sure that you were able to overtake them. 

“On top of this, when you have this kind of deficit, you are taking risks. You have to take options on the strategy, not always make it work.