Seven-time
world champion Lewis Hamilton thinks Dutch driver Max Verstappen is in for an “easy
win” at Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. Hamilton’s title rival clinched pole
position for the race at after Saturday sprint race winner Valtteri Bottas was
handed a grid penalty for an engine change made by Mercedes on Friday.

Hamilton
had hoped to make up ground on his 23-year-old rival in the driver’s standings,
starting the sprint race second on the grid, but those aspirations took a hit
as he finished fourth after a slow start.

Instead,
the sprint race saw Verstappen extend his lead over the Brit by another two
points, now leading the race for the driver’s championship by five.

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Hamilton
will start the race with the Mclaren duo Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo
between him and Verstappen, and the 36-year-old does not fancy his chances of
catching up on Sunday.

“You saw
the pace of the Red Bull. I don’t know if he was faster than Valtteri but now
he’s on pole, so it should an easy win for him,” Hamilton told Sky Sports. “For
me, I’ve just got to try and get past these McLarens,” he added.

He also
said that he thinks the Red Bull car has “more pace than they’ve had all year”
at Monza. “They bring upgrades
every week. From what I’m told, there’s only one race where they haven’t
brought an upgrade, so they are constantly bringing performance to the car and
they’ve done a great job. But well done to Valtteri today (for winning the
sprint),” he said.

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After making a slow
start to the sprint, Hamilton spent nearly the entire race behind Norris. Both
McLaren drivers were using the soft tyres, while Red Bull and Mercedes used the
medium tyres, which was expected to bring an advantage later in the race – after
the soft tyres started wearing out.

“I think we
underestimated how well they (soft tyres) would behave,” Hamilton said. “We’ve
got to try and figure out how to get by the McLarens tomorrow and try to limit
the damage.”