Stroll told to "go for it" against Hamilton at start

Stroll produced a brilliant performance in wet qualifying at Monza to set the fourth fastest time, but he moves up to second on the grid thanks to Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo suffering engine change penalties.

It means Stroll, who is in his rookie season, will start alongside pole man Hamilton, and could have a chance to grab the lead under braking for the tight first chicane.

But despite the high-pressure situation, and the potential for trouble at Turn 1, Stroll's teammate Felipe Massa and his bosses have urged the Canadian not to be cautious when it comes to taking the fight to Hamilton.

"Just go for it, man," said Massa, when asked for what advice he would give Stroll about the start. "I think it is a race that will be fantastic to score good points with both cars."

Pushed on whether drivers needed to change their approach when battling against someone in the hunt for the title, Massa said: "The drivers that are competing for the title need to be careful and the others have nothing to lose. This is how it is."

Williams technical chief Paddy Lowe echoed Massa's remarks, as he had faith that Stroll would do the right thing – and wouldn't need telling about how to handle things.

"Yeah, absolutely," explained Lowe about Massa's 'go for it' advice. "What an achievement! Front row. Incredible achievement.

"I don't think he will need any special guidance around that. Lance is good at starts actually. It is one of the things he has shown strongly right from the beginning.

"He is good at managing the negotiation of traffic into the first corner, so I think if we can give him a good configuration for the start so he should do well."

Stroll did not think that he would need to treat the run to Turn 1 at Monza any different to how he has approached other races this year.

"It is going to be a special experience," he said. "There will be no one in front of me, just someone beside me. So I am going to run my race, do my thing and we will see what happens."

Asked about if he would change his aggression levels against Hamilton, he said: "Not really. I always try to use my head in the best way possible for my own race – whether it is Lewis or anyone else. And obviously I don't want to be smashing into them in the first corner.

"I know he is fighting for a world championship and I am not, and of course you have to pay respect, but I am just going to do my race and he will do his. Everyone will do their race going into the first chicane."