Italian Grand Prix: It’s a Red Bull front row at Monza

It’s a Red Bull front row at the 2013 Italian Grand Prix, with Vettel taking pole and Webber alongside. Lewis Hamilton failed to make Q3.

Lewis Hamilton has had a good run for Mercedes recently with four pole positions in a row, but he failed to make final qualifying in Monza as Sebastian Vettel took a convincing pole.

Hamilton’s own verdict on his failure to make Q3 was that he ‘drove like an idiot’, and he starts at Monza in 12th place, which should make for an interesting race.

But there was no such misery for Red Bull, with Sebastian Vettel taking pole with Mark Webber in the second Red Bull qualifying in second.

The big surprise was Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg who pulled an absolutely cracking lap out of the bag to take third place alongside Felipe Massa in the Ferrari.

But Massa in third wasn’t the plan, but Ferrari’s plan to get Massa to give Fernando Alonso a tow to give him the quickest lap went badly wrong, with Alonso failing to keep up and complaining that Massa was going too fast. Alonso ended qualifying in fifth as a result.

Behind Alonso is the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg in sixth , with Mark Webber’s replacement at Red Bull for next year – fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo – managing to put his Toro Rosso in seventh.

McLaren did well by their 2013 standards with Sergio Perez taking eighth and Jenson Button ninth, with the final top ten place going to Jean-Eric Vergne in the second Toro Rosso.

Will Hamilton get his mojo back for tomorrow’s race in Monza? If he does, we could be in for some interesting overtaking.