Following the conclusion of the 2024 Italian Grand Prix FP2 session, Lewis Hamilton opened up about his experience of driving the W-15 in the hot summer weather of Monza. The Mercedes star termed his experience as painful, and compared it with being in the sauna.

Formula 1 is in Italy for the 16th race of the 2024 season. After an eventful DutchGP where Lando Norris trimmed the championship gap to Max Verstappen, the pinnacle of motorsport returned to the ‘temple of speed’ this weekend, and Friday marked the conclusion of two Free Practice Sessions.

FP1 was action-packed and Kimi Antonelli and Franco Colapinto made their F1 debuts. Then it was time for the FP2 session, where Lewis Hamilton finished on top.

Hamilton topped FP2 with a brilliant 1:20.738 lap and was ahead of Lando Norris by three-thousands of a second, while Carlos Sainz rounded up the top three. While Hamilton delivered a top-notch performance, it wasn’t all easy for the seven-time world champion.

“It was ridiculously roasting in our car,” Lewis Hamilton said in a post session interview with Sky Sports. “I’m not quite sure exactly, I think down by the radiators there’s probably some leakage of hot air. It was very hot. Like sitting in a sauna with no shorts on. Pain.”

“I’m feeling good [for tomorrow]. It’s going to be really important the work we do tonight, the work that gets done back at the factory in the simulator and just to thread carefully with the set up so we don’t put the car too out of bed like we’ve done in the past.”

Lewis Hamilton during the press conference. Source: Getty Images

As per the updates, the surrounding areas of Monza are currently under an excessive heat warning. The average daily temperature around the track is 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and one can expect the track temperature, combined with the car temperature, to increase significantly further.

Lewis Hamilton’s potential replacement Kimi Antonelli had a crash in FP1

Friday’s first session at Monza saw Kimi Antonelli crash against the barrier at Parabolica. Antonelli, who is widely regarded as the favorite to become Lewis Hamilton’s successor at the Silver Arrows next year, took over George Russell’s W-15 in FP1.

However, within 10 minutes into the session, Antonelli carried too much speed into Parabolica and crashed his W-15 heavily against the barrier. Prior to this, the Italian prodigy had set the fastest time. What could have been a brilliant session for him, ended in jeopardy.

With this, the infamous turn of the temple of speed claimed its second victim already, after the F1 safety car had lost control and hit the barrier on Thursday. Besides Antonelli and the safety car, the turn also gave some hard times to Colapinto and Max Verstappen during the FPs.