Wolff hoping for safety car intervention in Hamilton fightback

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is hoping for safety car assistance to help Lewis Hamilton rise through the field during the Italian Grand Prix.

The seven-time F1 champion finished qualifying fifth-fastest but will drop to 19th by virtue of a back-of-the-grid penalty, with only Yuki Tsunoda below him.

The Silver Arrows has so far encountered difficulties around the 'temple of speed' at Monza with its drag inefficiency affecting the W13s.

Hamilton finished 1.3secs adrift of pole-sitter Charles Leclerc's pole position time, with team-mate George Russell slower in sixth.

"We clearly developed [the car] away from an optimal set-up in FP2," said Wolff, addressing the team's struggles.

"It came back in FP3 and we had another one run that was good with George so as I said before, it is not always easy to understand."

Wolff remaining "positive"

Hamilton has joked he may as well take an iPad into the W13 with him to watch the new Game of Thrones spin-off 'House of the Dragon',such will be the boredom of the DRS trains around the Italian venue.

Addressing Hamilton's quip, Wolff said: "Well, he's going to need the iPad to entertain himself, we're going to need the iPad to entertain ourselves.

"I really hope it's not the DRS train that we fear but we have a good race car, it goes around the corners quicker than all the others.

"With a clever strategy, we can bring him back solid in the points, whatever happens in the race. He can come all the way back to the front."

Wolff feels, though, Hamilton may need a helping hand. He explained: "We have always done much better races this season.

"Even at Spa where we were miles behind the frontrunners, we could have finished second but for a few more laps.

"So I am positive. Is it going to be enough for Lewis to come all the way to the front, I think we would need a safety car or something like this."