Lewis Hamilton dug deep into his vast reservoir of driving talent yesterday to snatch the Italian Grand Prix pole position in the final seconds of qualifying at Monza and deny the unfashionable Force India team their second successive place at the front of the starting grid. Two weeks after Giancarlo Fisichella, now racing in Ferrari colours, had surprised the Formula One world by taking the qualifying spoils in Belgium, his former teammate Adrian Sutil led the way in Italy until a last-gasp closing lap by the British world champion pushed the German to the other side of the front row.
Hamilton had initially set the pace in the final session of qualifying in his McLaren with an early time of 1 min 24.605 sec but Sutil shaved more than three-tenths of a second off that mark before a typically resolute response by the young Englishman came up with the best time of 1 min 24.066 sec. That flying lap secured the 15th pole position of Hamilton's career and a second in the last three races. He said: "I don't think we anticipated being as quick as we are this weekend so this is a bonus to everyone in the team. It was a very close session but it was great for me to be able to put together that crucial final lap."
Hamilton, who had earlier incurred a fine of ?2,400 (Dhs 12,744) for exceeding the pit lane speed limit in practice, and Sutil have been close friends since their Formula 3 days. Hamilton remarked: "I'm very happy to see Adrian up here. It's been a long time since we've been in a press conference together - and on the front row." Having topped the second practice session, Sutil was far from down hearted after losing pole in the dying seconds.
He preferred to celebrate the claiming of a career-best qualifying position. "It's a great moment, a great day for me," said the German driver. "The car is amazing, really quick, unbelievable. "It's such a different experience in the car right now knowing that you have a chance. This is a continuation of the work we did at Spa, and the good feeling of being a race driver is back. It's a great feeling."
Sutil, who will fancy his chances of collecting his first points of the season, will have his work cut out for a podium finish against the challenge of the Ferrari of former world champion Kimi Raikkonen and Hamilton's teammate Heikki Kovalainen starting immediately behind him. Raikkonen, victorious at Spa last time out and on the podium in the last three races, is confident of making it four good finishes in succession.
"It was one of our best qualifying sessions, said the Finn. "It has put us in a strong position, giving us another chance of finishing on the podium. Hopefully we can give the Italian fans a good result, and secure one for ourselves. That's our aim." His Italian teammate Fisichella had two difficult days, crashing in the second practice session and struggling to get a hold of the F60 car as he ploughed into a tyre wall on Friday. He will start 14th on the grid on his debut at his and Ferrari's home race.
"It was quite frustrating," Fisichella said of the crash. "I was not comfortable and confident. Everything was new for me. But considering all this, it's quite a good result." The Brawns of world championship leader Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello occupy the third row of the grid, the Brazilian Barrichello claiming the bragging rights by edging out his English colleague by 0.015sec. Vitantonio Liuzzi, returning to F1 in the Force India car vacated by Fisichella, secured an excellent seventh place - like Sutil he recorded a career best finish - in his first qualifying appearance for nearly two years. Luizzi will be starting his home Grand Prix aiming to add to Force India's hopes for points from both their drivers.
He will start alongside Renault's Fernando Alonso. The former double world champion will be trying hard to keep his team's focus in the wake of allegations of race fixing by his former teammate Nelson Piquet Junior. The Red Bull pair of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are side by side on the fifth row, further back than they needed to be in their desire to close their sizeable world title gap on Button and his nearest pursuer Barrichello.
Vettel had won the race in Monza last year in wet conditions. wjohnson@thenational.ae
