Hamilton bags Monza pole

Lewis Hamilton mastered Monza's fast, flowing curves to set the benchmark in Italy on Saturday, claiming pole position with a 1:24.109. His teammate Nico Rosberg was roughly a quarter of a second adrift, slower in all three sectors of the lap, but still logged an impressive time considering that he was not able to take part in Saturday morning's practice session.

"I feel excited for tomorrow," Hamilton said after claiming pole. "I'm very proud of my guys on my side of the garage. They have been through the difficult times with me. They've done a remarkable job bouncing back, so we've done this as a team and it's great to have another 1-2 for the team."

Having collided at the last race in Belgium, helping Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo to the win, the uneasy Mercedes colleagues will again start side-by-side on Sunday. The long straight run off the line into Monza's narrow first chicane, typically among the more tense starts on the calendar, could again prove a flashpoint.

The championship rivals looked uneasy together after the session, not exchanging a handshake and both saying that the front-row lockout was "good for the team." Rosberg spoke in German about the unique challenges of Monza, the fastest circuit on the calendar, and his satisfaction to see Mercedes dominant on Ferrari's turf. He also described second spot as a good position for the race.

"In the race anything can happen and we need to work towards the race and get a good strategy," the championship leader said.

Mercedes motors monster Monza

The six fastest qualifiers on Saturday were all powered by the Brixworth-built Mercedes engines. Williams emerged as a clear second power in qualifying: Finn Valtterri Bottas was the only non-Mercedes driver who appeared party to the fight for pole position, qualifying third ahead of his teammate Felipe Massa.

Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button of McLaren - again powered by Stuttgart's three-pointed star - locked out the third row.

Montezemulo faces music

Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel were the best of the non-Mercedes-powered bunch, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez in ninth and tenth on the grid. Alonso's teammate Kimi Raikkonen had a disappointing day with Ferrari, qualifying just 12th at the Scuderia's home race.

Prior to the session, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo stressed that he would be sticking with the team, which has already fired team principal Stefano Domenicali and engine boss Luca Marmorini this season. "In March, I told the shareholders and especially the people at Ferrari, who I'm very close to, that I would be available for another three years," Montezemulo - linked to the top job at struggling Italian airline Alitalia - told reporters ahead of Saturday's session. "If there is anything new, I myself would be the first to say so."

Montezemulo sought to deflect direct questions about the Alitalia rumors with wit: "Alitalia? I hope to use it tomorrow afternoon."

Germans Nico Hülkenberg and Adrian Sutil had disappointing days; they will share the seventh row, starting 13th and 14th.

Including Monza, seven races remain in the 2014 Formula One season. Rosberg leads Hamilton by 29 points, with Daniel Ricciardo still well adrift in third. However, after Mercedes infighting helped Ricciardo to back-to-back victories, Mercedes will be keen to convert grid positions into points on Sunday.