Hamilton beats Rosberg to pole in Italy

Hamilton delivered a time of 1:24.109 in the final shootout phase, 0.274s faster than Rosberg, who was last out-qualified in Austria.

The result also marked the first time that Hamilton had eclipsed Rosberg in a qualifying session since the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Williams drivers emerged as Mercedes' main threat, with Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa locking out the second row of the grid.

McLaren's cars were also line astern, Kevin Magussen pipping Jenson Button to fifth in a last-gasp effort.

After encouraging practice pace, Fernando Alonso could give Ferrari nothing more than seventh on home soil.

The Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo followed, with Force India's Sergio Pérez 10th.

Kimi Räikkönen was the biggest name to fall at the second hurdle; after abandoning the first lap of his final run when traffic hindered his vision into the first chicane, he failed to find the time required. 

Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat had pipped Räikkönen, but falls to 21st with his 10-place engine-related grid penalty.

Kvyat's team-mate, Jean-Éric Vergne, also dropped out in Q2, along with Force India's Nico Hülkenberg – who also suffered an early exit in Belgium – and Sauber drivers Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutiérrez.

Both Lotus machines were eliminated in the first qualifying phase, but Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean at least managed to outpace the backmarker teams after serious warning signs.

Caterham driver Kamui Kobayashi delivered a strong lap after the chequered flag had dropped to usurp key Marussia rival Jules Bianchi, whose final run was hindered by a wild slide through the Ascari chicane.

Max Chilton and Marcus Ericsson brought up the rear, both a long way off their team-mates.