Lewis Hamilton was delighted with his qualifying performance to get pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, describing his laps as "fantastic" and "aced".
In a stunning performance at Monza Hamilton's best lap was close to half a second quicker than that of his team mate Nico Rosberg next up, and afterwards the Englishman beamed about his qualifying effort.
"It felt great," he said. "Through qualifying the laps were just getting better and better.
"Then the last two laps were just fantastic. The first one was a great banker, was up on my delta – but I felt that there was just a little bit more in it.
"Honestly, the last lap was super-clean. Didn’t have any lock-ups, aced… I came out of Turn One already a tenth up and just maintained that generally through the lap. I think I pulled a little bit more out of Turns Eight, Nine and 10 and the last corner, I did that definitely the best I’ve done it all weekend.
"Parabolica was… I mean it’s such an amazing corner. The speed we hit that corner and the grip that’s there that allows us to carry speed through is phenomenal. Because you’ve got a big straight going in, a big straight coming out, trying to find the right balance and not braking too much, not carrying too much in, not losing too much on the mid-part to make sure you get the exit… it’s probably one of the most difficult balances to get."
Given that this is his third pole in a row at Monza, Hamilton was asked to explain what it is about the track that suits him.
"I don’t really have a great answer for that," he added. "It is obviously a heavy braking circuit, it’s a bit more like a go-kart circuit where you have to throw the car around, in the lower speed, I would say.
"I just try to turn up and perform my best wherever I am. I love being here in Italy and for some reason Italy’s been good to me."
