Despite claiming the 1-2 at Monza, Lewis Hamilton believes McLaren are in for a tough battle for this weekend's Italian GP victory.
Bouncing back from his Belgian GP DNF, the McLaren driver set the pace on Friday afternoon with a 1:25.290. And with team-mate Jenson Button just 0.038s off the pace, McLaren's weekend got off to the perfect start with the 1-2.
The Woking team, though, were by no means in a league of their own.
On an afternoon that saw the top 12 separated by less than a second, the two Ferraris were right on McLaren's rear wing led by Fernando Alonso who was only 0.058s off the pace.
Hamilton, though, reckons with a little of work, especially on their race-pace, his team could be in a for a great weekend at Monza.
"We do have a great car, the guys have done a fantastic job back at the factory to tune the set-up for the aerodynamic package that we have this weekend," said the 27-year-old.
"Of course it's still very, very close between us and the Ferraris, the Lotuses and Mercedes, but we are not in a bad position."
He added: "We've still got some work to do to try and improve and find some time - particularly on the long runs."
Asked what a win at Monza, Ferrari's home turf, would mean to him, Hamilton said: "Rather than telling you what it would mean to me, I'll try and work towards it. If that ever comes true then I can tell you what it means."
The Brit was also quick to downplay suggestions that he may be distracted by talk of his future.
"I'm just trying to focus on the weekend. Everyone's been asking the question; I'm just trying to remain focused on the job at hand. That's the most important thing at the moment."
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