Lewis Hamilton makes 'next year' declaration ahead of Monza punishment

Lewis Hamilton maintains it is better to suffer his five-place grid penalty at Monza "now than next year" after a strong Friday for the British driver.

The 40-year-old topped FP1 for the Italian Grand Prix, pipping Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in front of the Scuderia's adoring fans.

Despite falling to fifth-fastest in the second hour of running, the seven-time F1 drivers' champion was in high spirits ahead of the rest of the weekend.

"It's pretty incredible," Hamilton said after the second free practice session at the Temple of Speed. "Yeah, an amazing feeling leaving the garage.

"Just the whole experience, just being... while I'm in blue," he joked. "I joined the team to be in red.

"But, yeah, being in the garage, the experience we had on Thursday with the Tifosi in Milan, and then to come here and drive out the garage in a red car, it's all I ever thought it would be, and more," he added in reflection.

"FP1 was a good session, and then FP2 we made some changes and the car was a bit worse - the good thing is we can go back on that."

Hamilton insists 'it will continue'

Elaborating on his on-track exploits at Monza, Hamilton highlighted how he would rather endure the hardship of the penalty he received in Zandvoort this season than next year, when he hopes to have a more competitive package to work with.

It has been a difficult first season at Ferrari for the 105-time grand prix winner. He has struggled to adapt to the SF-25, and the car has taken a relative step back in performance compared to the leading McLaren.

"FP1 was feeling really, really strong, and FP2 was definitely much more of a struggle, but it's better to have that in FP2 and learn from that rather than FP3, so lots of positives to take from today, and we'll do some work overnight, and I hope that tomorrow we can be better," Hamilton said.

"The McLarens are obviously still very, very fast, and I think it's very close with everyone in the top five and top 10, so it'll be a challenge.

"And it's not easy to overtake. And I've obviously got that penalty, which is unfortunate, but better to have it now than next year, I guess."

Nonetheless, Hamilton is feeling positive about the rest of the weekend, despite his looming punishment. "Wherever I qualify, I'm starting five places back from that, which is not great, and I think it's gonna be really difficult to overtake us," he pointed out. "We're all so close...

"I do feel optimistic. I still feel like I could potentially move forward. I was much happier with the car today, so I hope that continues tomorrow - it will continue tomorrow, because I'll make the changes tonight and come with a fresh head tomorrow."