Lewis Hamilton has been speaking ahead of the Italian Grand Prix this weekend. 

The McLaren driver failed to finish at the Belgian Grand Prix in the last race and wants to put things right ahead of the final European Grand Prix of the 2011 season.

He said: “Last year, I won at Spa and failed to finish at Monza so, for this year, I guess I’m looking to reverse that sequence!”

“I’ve already moved on from my non-finish in Belgium and I’m really looking forward to returning to Italy.”

“It’s a place where I spent a lot of time racing karts, so it’s a country I really love.”

“I think we go into the weekend feeling pretty optimistic. I’ve never won at Monza and I’d love to get a good result this year.”

Hamilton then admitted that he is looking forward to qualifying in particular, with DRS likely to play a big part.

“I’m particularly looking forward to qualifying, because I think DRS will make a huge difference to our lap times.”

“With unlimited use in quali, and those four long straights, I think qualifying’s going to be pretty intense.”

“We’ll be 20km/h faster at four key points of the circuit, so our quali times are going to be much faster than in the race. That should be pretty exciting.”

“I really want to get the maximum out of the car in quali, but then look forward to a strong race, of course.”

“You’ll need the downforce then, though, because you’ll want to be quick enough out of the second Lesmo and Parabolica to be in with a chance of challenging for position down the following straight.”

“I think things are set for another very closely matched race – I’m really looking forward to it.”

To get you in the mood, here is footage of Lewis Hamilton reacting to the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix. Make sure you check out our archived Italian Grand Prix moments too! 

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Fancy seeing some more of Lewis? Take a look at our glance back in to his past as we pick out both his and partner in crime Jenson Button’s finest ever races!

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