Italian Grand Prix Results: Sebastian Vettel Tops Qualifying

Sebastian Vettel powered to yet another pole position at the Italian Grand Prix, as other drivers struggled to keep up with him.

He was joined on the front row by fellow Red Bull driver Mark Webber.

As expected, both Marussia and Caterham cars went out in the first session.  They were joined by Esteban Gutierrez of Sauber and Valtteri Bottas of Williams.  Both drivers will be disappointed to be below their respective team mates at this stage of the season.

Romain Grosjean took a couple of bumpy rides over the sleeping policemen at the first chicane, whilst Lewis Hamilton almost crashed out on the Parabolica, taking a trip over the gravel on the exit.

Otherwise Q2 was incident free at Monza.

Sebastian Vettel went through to Q1 with the fastest time. He needed only one lap to show the rest of the field he meant business.

The big shock was Hamilton dropping out in Q2, only managing 12th place after his incident in the gravel.  It is the first time the Mercedes driver has not made it into the top ten since 2010.

Hamilton was not the only former World Champion to miss out on the top ten at Monza, Kimi Raikkonen joined the Brit outside the top ten, along with his Lotus teammate Grosjean.

Daniel Ricciardo impressed in both Q1 and Q2 but will have been disappointed to only make it to seventh during Q3.  The Australian will, however, be pleased to have qualified ahead of his teammate Jean-Eric Vergne.

Vettel and team mate Mark Webber had no problems taking the front row away from Ferrari, despite Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa working together early in the session.

Alonso will be bitterly disappointed with his fifth place, especially as his team mate Massa pulled away from him in the closing stages and finished in fourth place. 

The big shock was Nico Hulkenburg of Sauber, who powered into a surprise third place, despite not being higher than tenth all season.

Nico Rosberg finished in sixth place to rub salt into the wounds of Hamilton, who has finished ahead of his team mate during qualifying at the last four races.

The closing seconds of Q3 almost provided some drama, as Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne slid across the gravel on the exit of Parabolica.  In an incident almost identical to Hamilton's in Q2, the Frenchman disappeared into a plume of dust, only to safely emerge after expertly keeping his car out of the wall.

The dust had barely settled as the final drivers crossed the line, thankfully unimpeded by Vergne's excursion.  The Frenchman had to make do with tenth place behind the McLaren of Jenson Button and Sergio Perez.

Full results from qualifying can be found on the BBC Sport website.