MONZA, Italy -- Lewis Hamilton says he is carrying his must-win mindset from Belgium to the Italian Grand Prix this weekend.
With Mercedes expected to have an edge in Belgium and Italy, Hamilton came out of the summer break determined to take all 50 points on offer in a bid to strengthen his championship challenge. Victory in Belgium moved him to within seven points of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.
When asked if he still viewed Italy in the same light, he replied: "Yes absolutely. I mean that's generally been every weekend anyways but I definitely have carried over that same kind of driving to this weekend.
"I think P1 was really good, P2 was a little bit trickier with the track being hotter so the balance of the car was a bit inconsistent, so it's like a moving target so you have to guess where we are going to have the car for Sunday, or for tomorrow particularly if it's raining or it's dry. Mind is moving really fast right now."
Ferrari is celebrating its 70th anniversary at Monza this weekend and has arrived to its home race in front of a fervent home crowd. Hamilton hopes he can spoil the party by finishing the weekend on the top step of the podium.
"Well happy 70th. Hopefully it won't be a happy one on Sunday!"
Mercedes finished Friday's second practice session just 0.1s up on Vettel's benchmark. Hamilton thinks its difficult to know exactly how much Ferrari will improve until qualifying.
"I think Ferrari look quite close, there is only one-tenth between us, but tomorrow we will have a good idea. They go slow in P1 then a little bit faster in P2 then slow in P3 then faster in Q1 and Q2. It is difficult to know at the moment."