Qualy: Hamilton takes pole, Kimi P2

Editor

It was all about Lewis Hamilton at Monza as the Championship leader stormed to his 11th pole position of this season while Kimi Raikkonen was second.

Hamilton went into Saturday's qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix as the only Mercedes runner using the new upgraded engine. Although the weekend began with it fitted in both W06s, an issue for Rosberg after FP3 meant he had to swap to the older spec engine.

As such there was little competition for Hamilton who was quickest in the first and second segments before crossing the line with a 1:23.397 to take pole position in Q3.

Kimi Raikkonen was second for Ferrari, 0.234s down, while Sebastian Vettel claimed third place. Raikkonen's P2 marked Ferrari's first front row start position at Monza since 2010.

Rosberg, with his older spec engine, slumped to fourth ahead of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Both Williams drivers were within a second of Hamilton's P1 time.

Earlier in Q1 Max Verstappen finished qualifying at the bottom of the timesheets as he only ventured out for one very late lap.

That turned out to be an eventful one as massive pieces of his STR10's engine cover were left lying on the track at the Curva Grande. It appears as if the bodywork was not properly fixed to the car after his earlier

McLaren and Manor joined the Dutchman in dropping out of Q1.

Q2 also saw a driver finish without a time; it was Daniel Ricciardo. Given his grid penalty for an engine change, he opted to save both tyres and engine life.

As a result he finished P15 with Pastor Maldonado, Felipe Nasr, Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat dropping out in Q2. The latter two also have grid penalties.

Times
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:23.397
2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:23.631 0.234
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:23.685 0.288
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:23.703 0.306
5 Felipe Massa Williams 1:23.940 0.543
6 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:24.127 0.730
7 Sergio Perez Force India 1:24.626 1.229
8 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:25.054 1.657
9 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:25.317 1.920
10 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:26.214 2.81
11 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:24.525
12 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:24.898
13 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:25.618
14 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:25.796
15 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull no time
16 Jenson Button McLaren 1:26.058
17 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:26.154
18 Will Stevens Manor 1:27.731
19 Roberto Merhi Manor 1:27.912
20 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso no time