Vettel grabs pole at Monza

Sebastian Vettel and RBR sent a clear message to their rivals on Saturday afternoon, taking pole position for the Italian Grand Prix on a circuit they were expected to be beatable.

Monza seemed the place most likely to see the Austrian team’s rivals break its stranglehold on qualifying but it didn’t turn out that way. Vettel looked in ominous in Q2 and confirmed it with two super fast laps in Q3. He eventually took pole with a 0.4s advantage over Lewis Hamilton.

Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso will line up on the second row of the grid. Mark Webber qualified in fifth place ahead of Felipe Massa. Renault and Mercedes will mix it on the fourth and fifth rows.

How the session unfolded :

Q1

Italian Jarno Trulli was the first out and posted the first time on the board. There were a number of changes in the order early on, as each driver produced his effort.

Jenson Button set the first proper benchmark. Alonso and Vettel slotted right behind him while Webber was still in the pits. Hamilton then popped up at the front but both Vettel and Button were on a hot lap. The German topped the list and seemed on course to improve next time round but opted to dive in the pitlane as Pastor Maldonado spun his Williams out of the Parabolica. He managed to make it back to his garage, albeit missing his front wing.

Hamilton reclaimed the lead afterwards. With five minutes remaining, the Briton was still leading from Vettel, Button, Alonso and Webber. None of them came out again, instead watching the others fighting for the best possible qualifying spot.

The usual suspects – Liuzzi, Ricciardo, d’Ambrosio, Glock, Kovalainen and Trulli – were eliminated. The dreaded 18th was inherited by Toro Rosso’s Alguersuari after a frantic scrap in the dying moments of the session.

Q2

The battle resumed after a short break. Bruno Senna set the early pace but was quickly relegated to third by the flying Button and Vettel. The German further improved to break under the 1’23 barrier, thus securing his place through to Q3.

Button, Rosberg, Alonso and Webber also looked safely through. It was a bit more marginal for Hamilton who was eighth with three minutes remaining. He was forced to go out again, this time on the soft tyre, and set the third fastest time.

Schumacher, Massa and Petrov also got their ticket for Q3. The coveted tenth spot was grabbed by Bruno Senna under the chequered flag… as he beat di Resta by 0.006s! The drivers eliminated alongside the Scot were his teammate Sutil, Barrichello, Maldonado, Perez, Buemi and Kobayashi.

Q3

Ferrari set the ball rolling, sending both its cars out first. They were soon joined by the McLaren pair and Red Bull’s Vettel. Petrov also left the pits while Webber, Schumacher and Senna were content to wait a bit.

Vettel edged out both McLarens on his first effort but there was nothing to choose between the three of them as they were covered by 0.164s.

They gave it another shot. but, while Vettel managed to improve, both Button and Hamilton made a mistake and aborted their lap.

It was yet another pole for the German World Champion and his Red Bull team. Webber was down in fifth place. Massa was sixth ahead of Petrov, Schumcher, Rosberg and Senna.