Italian GP: We need to improve start weakness - Hamilton

Pole-sitter Hamilton dropped to sixth place after a poor start in Monza

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes need to improve what he believes is a weakness in their starts after he lost a potential win in the Italian GP.

Hamilton was on pole but dropped to sixth after a bad start, with team-mate Nico Rosberg going on to win and reduce the championship lead to two points.

"We're still caught out by random variation from one race to another," Hamilton said.

"As you've seen with Nico and me quite a few times, we need to work on it."

Hamilton said he would be discussing the issue with his engineers when he goes to the Mercedes factory on Tuesday for a debrief ahead of the final seven races of the season.

"I can assure you on Tuesday it is the only thing I am going to work on because everything else we are doing really well," he said.

"We are not struggling with pole positions; it is just getting off the line."

• Listen: Hamilton fluffs his start

• Listen: Rosberg wins the Italian GP

Rosberg has now won two races in a row since F1 returned from its summer break but Hamilton said he was still confident for the rest of the season.

Hamilton said: "We have been smashing the weekends, been quickest, dominant all weekend and then less than a tenth of a second decided the race.

"That is tough for everyone but when you look back and think of where we've come from it's not so bad.

"We are still leading the world championship. We have had so many things go against us on our side of the garage that to come back and be where we are, it has been a phenomenal year, and there's still lots of good things that can happen moving forwards."

Hamilton was 43 points behind after Rosberg won the first four races of the season but turned that around to take a 19-point lead into the summer break with a run of six wins in seven races.

Rosberg said his approach had not changed through the fluctuations in the championship.

"I am not thinking about it," he said. "My belief to win individual races is as high as ever and I showed it today again and that's it, because its my best approach.

"Because if I think about 43 points going to 19, I would lose sleep over that. So I just don't think about it and enjoy winning the races."

Hamilton passed Williams' Valtteri Bottas into Turn One on lap 11

Only two points separate Hamilton and Rosberg in the drivers' championship

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