03/09/2017
NEWS STORY
Perhaps it was tiredness after the two hour delay to the session. Perhaps it was the sheer effort of that Senna-esque lap that saw him become the driver with the most pole positions in the history of the sport. Perhaps it was the sheer emotion of claiming yet another entry in the sport's record books.
Or maybe he was left speechless following the verbal onslaught from the ever excitable Davide Valsecchi...
Whatever, following his amazing pole winning Monza lap, the three-time world champion was clearly lost for words.
"It's very hard to find the word to explain how I feel," the Briton admitted. "I'm trying to figure it all out right this second.
"These guys definitely made me work for it today," he continued, pointing to the Red Bull duo who finished second and third, "which I'm grateful for.
"The second to last lap was OK at the beginning and then I backed out of it, hoping I'd get one more lap," he explained, "and there's a lot of pressure for that last lap. There could have been a red flag, a yellow flag or something like that, so a lot to risk, but I gave it everything.
"Today was a real challenge with the break," he said. "You're in the zone for a second and then you get out of the car, you have 15 minutes to chill, then you get ready, get in the car, then you have to get back out, it was a real challenge to try to continuously try to keep your mind, not drained of energy while being in the zone but trying to step out of it and step back into.
"After playing the Playstation I was kind of a bit nervous whether or not I still was in the zone! But I was grateful when I got back out.
"Racing in the rain is... being in the wet in these cars is as great as its been in the other cars that we've had - but it's such a challenge and this is such an epic circuit because unlike the new circuits the grip is often off-line - which is a normal characteristic of an older circuit, and so you get to utilise that. So, going out, finding where the grip is, as opposed to a new surface - like the straight for example - which a lot of the new tracks have, makes it a lot more fun. So, I really, really enjoyed it."
Asked how it felt to surpass Michael Schumacher's record, the Briton said: "I wish I was better with words, to be honest. I wish I had something really... something iconic to say but... I heard that it's only switched hands a couple of times in the fifty years or whatever it is - sixty years or whatever...
"It's just, again, a bit like at the last race, just growing up, watching this sport as we all have and witnessing greatness in other individuals such as Michael and just dreaming of one day doing what he's doing or they're doing and then actually to be there many years later. We are... and I am living proof that dreams are something that can come true so I think it's really cool for young kids to be watching today because it's probably hard to imagine it but I was once going there, in their position and dreaming of doing what I'm doing today which they perhaps are and very proud for what we, as a family, have achieved and it's crazy.
"If I stopped now... but you know Vettel's not far behind so I've got to keep going, I've got to keep extending it otherwise he might catch it and so I'll stick around for a while and try to make life hell for him."
While Schumacher took 243 races to achieve his record, Hamilton has taken just 201.