Vettel Takes Red Bull's 50th Pole In Italian GP Qualifying

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Sebastian Vettel has taken pole position for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix. The triple world champion broke Lewis Hamilton's run of four consecutive pole positions after the Brit was knocked out in the second session.

It was another dramatic session - after Hamilton and Vettel led the way on Friday - with plenty of off-track excursions as drivers continued to fine-tune their car set-up.

Sebastian Vettel ended the 60 minute session at the top of the time sheets with a best time of 1m24.360. The Red Bull Racing driver dominated in second practice but his margin was reduced to just under three tenths over Fernando Alonso in second place.

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Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez rounded out the top five in third practice. Lotus looked off the pace in qualifying trim with both Raikkonen and Grosjean setting the 10th and 13th best times of the session.

It was a nightmare session for Force India after Paul Di Resta suffered a right front brake failure into the Parabolica. His car went straight on through the gravel and into the barrier but fortunately not too much damage was done. Team-mate Adrian Sutil had a clumsy spin during the session and could only set the 16th fastest time.

Mercedes had a mixed morning with Hamilton finishing in fourth and Rosberg down in 22nd and last place. The German suffered with overheated hydraulics mid-way through the session. This caused concern amongst his Mercedes mechanics, his session coming to an early end as his team checked his engine for damage.

Image source: Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team

The margins were considerably closer in the third practice session with just one second separating the top 13. However, despite Vettel's lead being cut, he looked like the man to beat going into qualifying.

Sebastian Vettel continued to hold the advantage in qualifying, topping all three sessions en route to pole position for the Italian Grand Prix. It was the 40th pole of his career and the 50th for Red Bull Racing.

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The German held provisional pole position after his first run in Q3 before improving by a tenth of a second on his final lap to cement his position at the front of the grid. Mark Webber qualified in second place to make it a Red Bull 1-2.

Nico Hulkenberg sprung into third after performing strongly throughout the qualifying hour. The Sauber driver's best lap time was just three tenths off the leading Red Bull.

Image source: Sauber F1 Team

Ferrari had previously practiced their drafting tactics, which failed to pay off in Q3, Massa qualifying in fourth and Alonso taking fifth on the grid. Rosberg was the best placed Mercedes driver in sixth place, the teams worst qualifying of the season, with Ricciardo taking seventh on the grid for Toro Rosso.

Perez and Button will start eighth and ninth for McLaren after an improved session for the Woking based squad. Jean-Eric Vergne was the slowest driver in Q3 thanks to a big off-track moment at the Parabolica.

Image source: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

The second qualifying session was a dramatic one with two championship rivals being eliminated. Kimi Raikkonen struggled for pace throughout the session and just missed out on the top 10 shoot-out. Lewis Hamilton failed to get a clean lap together, suffering a scary moment at the Parabolica before his first lap and getting held up on his second attempt by Adrian Sutil.

Romain Grosjean made it two Lotus drivers in the Q2 drop-zone, finishing in 13th place. Adrian Sutil set the 14th fastest lap but was given a three-place penalty for holding up Hamilton during the session. Pastor Maldonado and Paul Di Resta completed the runners in the second session.

Image source: Sahara Force India F1 Team

Esteban Gutierrez was the first driver to be knocked out of the first qualifying session, the Sauber driver failing to match the pace of his team-mate. He set the 17th fastest time in Q1, slightly quicker than the Williams of Valtteri Bottas.

Giedo van der Garde out-qualified his team-mate Charles Pic with both Caterham cars finishing ahead of the Marussia's of Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton.

Rain is expected for tomorrow's race; let's wait and see if Vettel will run away with another race win.