Hamilton storms to pole for Italy GP

• Adrian Sutil second and Kimi Raikkonen third• Jenson Button to start in sixth placeLewis Hamilton stormed to the 15th pole position of his career ahead of tomorrow's Italian grand prix. The reigning world champion saved it until the final moment as he was the last to cross the line in a hotly contested final ten-minute showdown, deposing Force India's Adrian Sutil from top spot.There was a possibility Hamilton could be penalised, though, as he appeared to impede Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi late on in the initial 20-minute Q1. However, given Buemi was never going to make it into the next session, it was hard to imagine the stewards penalising Hamilton.After claiming his second pole position of the year, and pipping close friend Sutil, Hamilton said: "It was a very close qualifying session, and I'm very happy to see Adrian up here. Since Formula Three it's been a long time since we've been in a press conference together, and on the front row. But it was such a great feeling to put a great lap together."People need to understand, you have one shot at it at the end, so to pull it off is amazing. I don't think we anticipated being just as quick as we are this weekend, so it's a bonus to everyone in the team."Behind another unusual front row, given Sutil's performance, Kimi Raikkonen again gave Ferrari something to cheer. He will start third, with the 2007 world champion joined on the second row by his fellow Finn, McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.The Brawns, clearly back in form after their recent struggles, are on the third row, with Rubens Barrichello starting fifth and Jenson Button sixth, the Brazilian out-qualifying the Briton for the third successive race.On his debut for Force India, Tonio Liuzzi gave the team another historic moment as he will start seventh, the first time they have managed to get both cars into the top 10. Renault's Fernando Alonso starts eighth, followed by the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, their title hopes fading further.BMW Sauber suffered a wretched Q2 as both Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld retired, with engine trouble. Kubica will start 13th and Heidfeld 15th, with the man to split them being Giancarlo Fisichella on his debut for Ferrari. The 36-year-old has clearly struggled to adapt to the car in the wake of his move from Force India nine days ago, notably crashing it this morning in final practice.Toyota's Jarno Trulli will start from 11th, with Romain Grosjean a semi-respectable 12th for Renault bearing in mind his car has KERS on board this weekend.Williams' fears regarding this circuit were certainly realised as both Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg failed to make it out of Q1. For Rosberg, who had qualified in the top 10 in 11 of the previous 12 races this season, the 24-year-old will start from his lowest position of the year in 18th, one place behind Nakajima.Toyota's Timo Glock was another unable to find the downforce and power required for Monza as he starts 16th, with the Toro Rossos bringing up the rear. Buemi will line up 19th, with Jaime Alguersuari 20th, the young Spaniard's five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change after final practice not counting for anything on this occasion.Positions after qualifying1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1min 24.066secs, 2 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:24.261, 3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:24.523, 4 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:24.845, 5 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:25.015, 6 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:25.030, 7 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 1:25.043, 8 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:25.072, 9 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:25.180, 10 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:25.314, 11 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:23.611, 12 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Renault 1:23.728, 13 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:23.866, 14 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Ferrari 1:23.901, 15 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:24.275, 16 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:24.036, 17 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:24.074, 18 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:24.121, 19 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:24.220, 20 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:24.951Formula OneMotor sportLewis Hamiltonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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