Lewis Hamilton will start the Italian Grand Prix on pole position to bounce back from his disappointing Belgium GP in style.
Hamilton leads Jenson Button with a McLaren 1-2, the pair split by just over a tenth of a second. That gives the team their 61st 1-2, matching the record held by Williams.
Felipe Massa looks back on form at Ferrari’s home race to secure third, whilst team-mate Fernando Alonso could only manage tenth after what looked like a poor strategic error from the team to use each others slipstream to gain an advantage which never materialised.
Paul di Resta put in a mighty effort to put his Force India fourth, though a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox will put him down to ninth for the race.
That promotes Michael Schumacher who qualified fifth, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Kimi Raikkonen and Kamui Kobayashi.
Mark Webber couldn’t manage a lap good enough to get him into Q3.
Nico Hulkenberg failed to set a timed lap at all in Q1, therefore he will start 24th and last after a suspected gearbox issue.
2012 Italian GP Qualifying Results (* = 5 place penaly):
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Q3 Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:25.011 | 1:24.687 | 1:24.802 |
| 11. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:25.556 | 1:24.809 | |
| 01. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:24.211 | 1:24.394 | 1:24.010 |
| 02. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:24.672 | 1:24.255 | 1:24.133 |
| 14. | B. Senna | Williams | 1:25.135 | 1:25.042 | |
| 10. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:24.175 | 1:24.242 | 1:25.678 |
| 03. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:24.882 | 1:24.505 | 1:24.427 |
| 24. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | |||
| 12. | P. Maldonado** | Williams | 1:25.103 | 1:24.820 | |
| 09. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:25.317 | 1:24.683 | 1:25.109 |
| 13. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:25.300 | 1:24.901 | |
| 19. | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:26.886 | ||
| 08. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:25.151 | 1:24.742 | 1:24.855 |
| 05. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:25.302 | 1:24.675 | 1:24.540 |
| 07. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:24.689 | 1:24.515 | 1:24.833 |
| 16. | J. d’Ambrosio | Lotus | 1:25.834 | 1:25.408 | |
| 17. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:25.649 | 1:25.441 | |
| 04. | P. di Resta* | Force India | 1:24.875 | 1:24.345 | 1:24.304 |
| 23. | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:27.629 | ||
| 15. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:25.728 | 1:25.312 | |
| 18. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:26.382 | ||
| 21. | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:27.073 | ||
| 20. | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:27.039 | ||
| 22. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:27.441 | ||
| Q1 107% Time: | 1:30.067 | ||||
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