Hamilton: Breaking pole record ‘an epic day’

Lewis Hamilton described his 69th pole position as "an epic day" after breaking Michael Schumacher's record with a memorable performance at the Italian Grand Prix.

Having drawn level with Schumacher a week ago in Belgium, Hamilton was under pressure in Q3 as rain continued to fall at the end of a delayed qualifying session. Max Verstappen took provisional pole from teammate Daniel Ricciardo as Red Bull looked strong in the wet conditions, but Hamilton delivered on his final attempt to go over 1.1s clear of the field.

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"It's really hard to find the words to explain how I feel," Hamilton said. "I'm trying to figure it all out right this second. 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. 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. There 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.

"I've got to say a big thank you to my team for making it all possible, all the guys back at the factory who all support me. At Mercedes we've got a lot of the sponsors here from Petronas and from Mercedes-Benz, who have been sponsoring me for a long, long time. They've supported me and been right behind me so I'm grateful for that.

"To my family, thank you for all the support, I can't believe it's been 10 years, I'm really grateful for all the support. And also the fans, I enjoyed chatting with them just before qualifying, during the break and I'm grateful to FOM for allowing us to do that because it's usually not allowed. An epic day and I'm truly blessed."

And Hamilton reserved special praise for both Verstappen and Ricciardo, having seen the two Red Bull drivers challenging him throughout Q3 until his final attempt.

"I just want to recognize and acknowledge these two here [Verstappen and Ricciardo] have done a fantastic job today, which truly shows their ability. 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 their capabilities today."