Lewis Hamilton confident tyre damage will not hurt him at Italian GP

Lewis Hamilton is confident a flat-spot on his tyres from qualifying won't come back to haunt him when he bids to turn his dominant Italian GP pole into a landmark 50th career win on Sunday.

The world championship leader produced one of his most dominant Saturday performances of the season at Monza to end team-mate Nico Rosberg's recent run of poles, with Hamilton's final Q3 advantage over the German an unusually large four tenths of a second.

However, one potential concern for Hamilton heading into the race could be a flat-spot he picked up on his soft tyres en-route to topping Q2. F1's rules dictate that drivers who qualify in the top 10 must start on the tyres they set their fastest time on in the second stage of qualifying.

Qualifying Report: Hamilton dominates

Hamilton came out on a fresh set of softs at the end of Q2 in a bid to improve his time but was unable to do so, meaning the set he flat-spotted will be his starting tyres. However, despite the damage, Hamilton has played down any concerns.

"I didn't really damage the tyres," he said. "I just had a small lock up into Turn One and ultimately for the race you want everything to be perfect.

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"I had the pace, went back out and I was actually up, but then I lost it in the last corner. But the flat spot is minimal, you can't really feel it so I don't think it will be a problem."

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff appeared slightly more concerned - "It could be a problem," the Austrian told Sky F1 - and it remains to be seen whether the world champions will ask the FIA for dispensation to change them.

At June's European GP, Hamilton was able to change one tyre for another with similar wear levels after flat-spotting them in an error-strewn qualifying hour.

Should Hamilton not encounter tyre problems in the first stint of Sunday's race, then the Briton appears the clear favourite for victory after outpacing Rosberg in every session since Practice One on Friday.

His pole position was his third in a row at Monza and fifth in total - equalling the all-time record set jointly held by five-time champion Juan-Manuel Fangio and Ayrton Senna, Hamilton's childhood hero.

"I was only made aware of the record coming into this weekend, so that was in the back of my mind and I was hoping it wouldn't steer me off course," said Hamilton. "I feel incredibly proud to be up amongst Senna and Juan-Manuel - I never in a million years thought my name would be mentioned in the same sentence as theirs.

"But this weekend I have a very strong feeling and I came with my A-game today, particularly the last lap, it felt incredible. What this team has achieved is phenomenal."

Rosberg admitted Hamilton had simply outperformed him in qualifying after he had to settle for second place.

"I think the best explanation is he did some good laps and that is it," said Rosberg, who trails Hamilton by nine points in the Drivers' Championship.

"I had a decent weekend up until now and got some good laps in today, just not quick enough."