Welcome to our LIVE coverage of the qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza!

Vettel on pole, Hamilton ends up second despite abandoning his final flying lap, with Button third, Alonso fourth and Webber fifth - but Vettel ended up almost half a second clear of the field. That's simply unbelievable driving, and it gives him his 10th pole of the season!

VETTEL TAKES POLE! The reigning champion shows his class, crossing the line with an absolutely superb lap that shaves over a quarter of a second off his best time. It's a 1:22.275!

Hamilton quits his flyer, while Button pits as well rather than finish his lap - he clearly lsot time on the final corner perhaps.

Nico Rosberg has done the fastest first sector but the Mercs have struggled in the later sections, while Hamilton's final flying laps looks to be scuppered as he brakes too late into a corner!

Senna and Schumacher yet to post times in Q3 incidentally...

The Ferraris and McLarens are both back out on the track now, as is Vettel, but the track is pretty busy.

Rosberg is out on the track but using harder tyres, while Webber has just clocked a 1:23.126 - he's half a second down and in fifth as things stand.

That was a full-on powerslide from Vettel, and he may have hurt those tyres: his first sector of the next lap is poor, and he's now comig back in.

VETTEL NEARLY LOSES IT! He oversteers badly in the Ascari turn, running well wide and losing a serious amount of speed. He's right on the limit...

Button's stint at the top of the timesheets lasts just 10 seconds, with Vettel flying round to clock 1:22.613 - and Hamilton, right behind him, producing a 1:22.725 to be second fastest.

Alonso clocks 1:22.999 in his opening effort - but Button supersedes him by two tenths just 30 seconds later.

Alonso and Massa look fast - this will be a good lap for at least one of them...

Alonso is behind Massa, incidentally, and fairly close. Are the Ferraris trying some sort of slipstreaming strategy to try and get Alonso onto the front row?

Q3 starts in underwhelming fashion as nobody gets out onto the track for a good 45 seconds - but now the Ferrari pair head off onto the circuit.

Right then - it's all stunningly close at the front, with Vettel, Button and Hamilton all within a couple of tenths of each other.

Di Resta has just been told by his team that Senna only managed that fast lap by picking up a tow off Lewis Hamilton, who was on his in-lap. A shame for the Scot to miss the shootout, but in terms of his race hopes starting from 11th gives him a much better menu of strategy options.

Joy for Senna, agony for Di Resta! The Brazilian pips the Brit by just 0.006 seconds, a bitter disappointment for Di Resta for the second race running as he misses the shootout by a tiny margin in the dying moments.

The clock runs down to zero - Senna, Perez and Barrichello all have one final chance at bumping Di Resta out of 10th spot.

Di Resta comes round again and swaps places with Sutil once more for that 10th place, while Lewis Hamilton puts in a 1:23.172 that lifts him to third.

Barrichello can't find much pace and is 13th, while Sutil improves to 10th by eding Di Resta by 1/100th. Hamilton is back out on soft tyres now as he finds himself 8th and in danger...