As it happened: 2010 Italy - Qualifying

• 12:30

  Good afternoon Fact Fans, welcome to qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix.

• 12:32

  It is bright and sunny in Monza and the Ferrari fans are out in force. It's also the home race for Liuzzi and Trulli, so watch out for them trying to impress.

• 12:33

  Webber had a worrying moment in practice, stopping out on track, but Red Bull have confirmed his engine is okay - it was an airbox fire.

• 12:35

  The BBC are streaming qualifying here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8989343.stm

• 12:35

  Autosport will have live updates here: http://live.autosport.com/commentary.php/id/269 but they haven't started yet.

• 12:35

  Live timing is here: http://www.formula1.com/live_timing/live_timing.html

• 12:37

  But the most important link is for our live commenting - join in the fun: https://sidepodcast.com/2010/09/11/live-italy-2010-qualifying/

• 12:39

  We've been making some predictions in the comments. Three people think Lewis can get pole, whilst Massa and Button also got a mention. What do you think?

• 12:43

  Interview with Karun Chandhok: "If I get some races at the end of this year that will be great, but I'm training for 2011."

• 12:44

  He was quite cagey over whether the future lies with Hispania or another team. Why would you stay with HRT after all this?

• 12:51

  Tweet from @NobleF1: It looks like Lewis Hamilton is sticking without the F-duct for the rest of the Monza weekend

• 12:52

  

  38°C

  Track	25°C
  Humidity	36%
  Wind Speed	0.7mps

• 12:54

  Tweet from @NobleF1: Five place grid penalty for Timo Glock for opening up the gearbox

• 12:56

  Interview with Christian Horner regarding Webber's car. "We'll probably have to run a slightly more conservative setting on that engine but nothing to be too worried about. The problem should be a one off."

• 12:59

  Tweet from @edb_lotusracing: Q1 about to start. We've got a last minute gremlin on JT's car, but it looks like they're on top of it now. GLO just made a gearbox change

• 13:00

  Qualifying session 1 begins.

• 13:00

  Glock heads out first.

• 13:02

  Petrov appears to get in the way of Glock as the Renault exits the pitlane.

• 13:20

  Qualifying session 1 ends.

• 13:21

  Clearly, a lot more happened in between the start and end than a bit of Glock action but we had a minor Factbyte malfunction.

• 13:22

  Now, what did we miss? The two Ferraris were fastest that session - Massa ahead of Alonso.

• 13:23

  Liuzzi's car broke, although I'm still not sure what happened.

• 13:24

  Q1 Drop-Zone

  18	Trulli	1:25.540
  19	Kovalainen	1:25.742
  20	Liuzzi	1:25.774
  21	Glock	1:25.934
  22	Di Grassi	1:25.974
  23	Senna	1:26.847
  24	Yamamoto	1:27.020

• 13:28

  Qualifying session 2 begins.

• 13:31

  Hamilton has the fastest time at the moment, followed by Alonso and Button.

• 13:32

  The stewards have confirmed they will investigate Petrov blocking Glock during Q1.

• 13:32

  Quite right too. That was the only notable thing in Q1. Eh-hem.

• 13:34

  Some qualifying stats for you - teammate comparison now that Liuzzi has gone out:

  Qualifying Battle

  Force India	Ahead
  Sutil	12
  Liuzzi	2

• 13:35

  Most drivers in the pits, just Rosberg, Vettel Schumi and De la Rosa out and about.

• 13:35

  Vettel on a hot lap but having to deal with passing several cars on the way round - he goes 4th fastest.

• 13:36

  Replays show Vettel also ran into the gravel a little on his way round. That won't help.

• 13:37

  Tweet from @edb_lotusracing: Again both drivers drove the wheels off the cars to be the fastest of the new teams. Also, I hear ALG has been called to the stewards.

• 13:39

  Buemi is currently in the bottom seven, as is his teammate Alguersuari.

• 13:40

  Comment from SLVAaron: Sticking to what I said eariler Alonso for pole, Ham to win the race

• 13:40

  All drivers out on track except Hamilton currently in 2nd and Kubica currently in 6th.

• 13:42

  Qualifying session 2 ends. Alonso fastest.

• 13:44

  Q2 Drop-Zone

  11	Sutil	1:23.199
  12	Schumacher	1:23.388
  13	Kobayashi	1:23.659
  14	Buemi	1:23.681
  15	Petrov	1:23.819
  16	Alguersuari	1:23.919
  17	De la Rosa	1:24.044

• 13:46

  Tweet from @tonyfernandes: big step forward for the team today. getting closer and closer to established teams.

• 13:46

  I don't know. I still make them a second off the others, but can't fault his optimism.

• 13:49

  Hugh Grant chats to the BBC.

  I don't know why he's there either!

• 13:50

  Qualifying session 3 begins.

• 13:50

  Ten minutes to fight for pole then. My money's on McLaren. Or Red Bull. Or Ferrari.

• 13:51

  Rosberg, Barrichello and Hulkenberg remain in the pitlane for now.

• 13:52

  Another inter-team comparison now that the seven-times champion has been knocked out:

  Qualifying Battle

  Mercedes	Ahead
  Rosberg	11
  Schumacher	3

• 13:53

  Alonso jumps up to P1 in this first round of lap times. Alonso, Button and then Massa.

• 13:53

  Fernando's time (1:21.962) makes him the first man into the 1:21s.

• 13:54

  Commentary from Karun Chandhok on 5live: "That's an outstanding lap and it's going to be a big, big task for McLaren to take that on."

• 13:57

  Massa can only manage third for now - almost four tenths off his teammate.

• 13:58

  Two minutes to go, all cars are out on track now.

• 13:59

  Tweet from @autosportlive: Barrichello made a mistake at the first chicane and that lap is ruined. He goes again.

• 14:00

  Hamilton has made a mistake into the first chicane - his lap is already ruined.

• 14:00

  Alonso has aborted his lap and returns to the pitlane.

• 14:01

  Qualifying session 3 ends.

• 14:01

  Fernando Alonso takes pole position! The first time in 30 races that Ferrari are on pole - and they did it in Italy.

• 14:01

  Makes a nice change from Red Bull!

• 14:03

  Top Ten

  1	Alonso	1:21.962
  2	Button	1:22.084
  3	Massa	1:22.293
  4	Webber	1:22.433
  5	Hamilton	1:22.623
  6	Vettel	1:22.675
  7	Rosberg	1:23.027
  8	Hulkenberg	1:23.037
  9	Kubica	1:23.039
  10	Barrichello	1:23.328

• 14:03

  This looks good for the championship, as Alonso and Button could both use a good start tomorrow to help their campaigns.

• 14:04

  The Red Bulls really appear to be struggling with Webber 4th and Vettel 6th.

• 14:05

  I'm disappointed that Kubica is so far down the order, after a great showing in Spa.

• 14:07

  We may not have any rain forecast for tomorrow, but the drivers have done their best to mix the order up for a good race. Keep your fingers crossed!

• 14:07

  Thanks for joining me for this qualifying session, and meet me back here this time tomorrow for the Italian Grand Prix.