Championship leader Sebastian Vettel (in pic) will start the Italian Grand Prix from pole position after posting the fastest time in qualifying Saturday, while lewis Hamilton’s bid for a fifth straight pole ended in disappointment and Fernando Alonso also had a difficult session.
Vettel has won the Italian GP twice and will be hard to stop after securing his 40th career pole in impressive fashion. The three-time defending Formula One champion will share the front row with teammate Mark Webber.
“Bit of a surprise to have both cars on the front row in a place where historically we’ve had bad years,” said Vettel, whose win here in 2011 remains Red Bull’s only podium at Monza. “Hopefully we’ll have good race tomorrow, too. It was a tough session but we managed to get through and get a great result.”
Alonso needed a strong performance but finished fifth behind his Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, who was a surprising third.
Hamilton placed a lowly 12th in his Mercedes for his worst performance since last year’s Spanish GP, while Kimi Raikkonen also recorded his poorest qualifying run of the campaign in 11th.
Vettel was in top form as he posted the leading time in Q1 and then Q2, with his team saying “right Sebastian, that’s quick enough” over race radio.
Alonso was second fastest in an eventful Q2 where Hamilton, last year’s winner from pole position, took the Parabolica turn too wide on the left. He went off into the gravel briefly and was unable to generate any speed after that. “That’s the worst I’ve driven for a long, long time. I’m sorry to the team,” Hamilton said.