MONZA, Italy -- Following his historic lap at Monza, Lewis Hamilton thanked Red Bull pair Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo for making him work for his record-breaking 69th pole position.
A rain-delayed qualifying session culminated with a thrilling Q3 shootout at Monza, with Hamilton nailing his final attempt to jump ahead of the Red Bulls at the death. Though the Red Bulls came into the session knowing both drivers were due to serve hefty grid penalties for engine changes, Hamilton's late attempt meant he took pole on merit rather than by default, something he acknowledged when first asked about his new place in the F1 record books.
"Well firstly I just want to recognise and acknowledge these two here have done a fantastic job today, which truly shows their ability," Hamilton said. "While they perhaps don't have the right package, hopefully in the future they do because we need to see these guys up here with us battling more. They should be in the fight with us, with Ferrari and Mercedes. Fingers crossed but they've clearly shown that today their capabilities."
Reflecting on the record itself, which has moved him clear of Michael Schumacher's tally of 68, he said: "These guys definitely made me work for it today, which I'm grateful for. The weather has obviously been incredibly tricky for us all. I can't believe so much time has passed, so many experiences and a lot of difficult times."
The thrilling to Q3 was helped by the intensifying of the rain which had been falling all afternoon, bringing the Red Bulls into play as well as Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon. Hamilton crossed the line to start his final lap with less than 10 seconds to go after being told to push on his out-lap from the pits.
"What a day, to come here in this beautiful country with what is usually English weather, and to be massively challenged. It was very difficult to see out there, it was difficult to see the lines and very easy to make mistakes as always in the rain. The second to last lap was OK at the beginning and then I backed out of it hoping that I'd get one more lap, and there's a lot of pressure on that last lap.
"Could have been a red flag, could have been a yellow flag or something like that so there was a risk, but I gave it everything and it probably won't sink in for a long time."