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Max Verstappen qualified seventh, a place behind Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, but that didn't stop him from enjoying himself out there today.

"I’m actually pretty happy with qualifying, I thought we’d be more behind Ferrari, we’re only half a second behind, that’s not so bad," he said.

"You never know [about getting on the podium] normally we are a little bit stronger in race pace than qualifying. But we are still behind.  

"It was actually very tight, we lost radio communication at the end so I didn’t know where I was but I came back in and thought that seventh isn’t too bad. I can’t complain."

Image source, Rex Features

Esteban Gutierrez secured a first appearance in Q3 with Haas today.

He was asked on Sky Sports about his future: "Everyone starts to have the rumours. Everything is happening. I will be here in Formula 1 next year."

But with whom Esteban? With whom?

McLaren's Jenson Button says his lap in Q2 was "pretty rubbish" and calls team-mate Fernando Alonso a "cheeky monkey" for finishing two places above him in 12th.

If you're using the BBC Sport app, you'll need to click the link to see the video.

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Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo on Sky Sports after qualifying in P6: "I'm satisfied with my prediction but wish I wasn't right. We predicted we'd be floating around the top five.

"It's a bit frustrating but we're where we expected. We would have loved to have qualified from Q2 on the soft tyres. But the super-soft is what we had in the end."

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Lewis Hamilton has his supporters in Italy and today they saw him secure a 55th career pole - the third most of all time. He's 10 behind Ayrton Senna and 13 behind Michael Schumacher.

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Mixed emotions for Sebastien Vettel who took third but was some way off the fellas in the silver arrows.

"First of all I wasn’t too happy with my first run, and then I went just on the limit in the last corner and was a little late on the throttle on my second lap," he said.

"But the lap itself I brought it back in sector two and three and did well.

"I’m very happy for us to lock out the second row, although I’m not entirely happy as those guys ahead look like they’re in a world of their own."

A gentle reminder from Nico Rosberg that he has been on pole in the last three races.

Image source, Reuters

Lewis Hamilton on the flat spot he picked up on his front-right tyre: "I didn't really damage the tyres. I had a small lock up. You want everything to be perfect but the flat spot is minimal. You can't really feel it so I don't think it will be a problem."

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Lewis Hamilton becomes just the third man to take pole at Monza five times, alongside Juan Manuel Fangio and Ayrton Senna, and he admitted that was something he was conscious of coming into the weekend.

"I feel very proud and honoured to be up amongst Fangio and Senna, incredible drivers and I never thought in a million years my name would be mentioned in the same breath as them," he said.

"I came with my A game today particularly that last lap felt incredible. It’s a great track with great fans.

"Race by race I continue to say that this team is fantastic, and it’s a pleasure to drive for them."

Lewis Hamilton gives a lovely answer about how much that pole meant to him.

Nico Rosberg is asked about the size of the gap and gives a contrastingly short response.

"He did some good laps and that was it. I was just not quick enough."

Image source, Reuters

Here come the top three for the media conference... quotes to follow.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also said that Hamilton's flat spot "isn't really bad", but that the team will assess it overnight.

They could look at getting it changed on safety grounds. We probably won't know until tomorrow.

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Strike a pose Lewis Hamilton. You've just beaten your team-mate by almost half a second.

That is a ridiculous gap on this track.

It's fair to say that Mercedes chief Toto Wolff is impressed with Lewis Hamilton's performance there.

"I think that was a very dominant one, it was very well deserved," he told BBC Radio 5 live. 

"[Rosberg] didn’t feel as confident in the car as Lewis, but I think that was just a typical Lewis Hamilton qualifying performance.

Mark Gallagher
BBC Radio 5 live Formula 1 analyst

That’s an unusually large gap for team-mates in any car, there must be some reason for it.

They can usually expect to trade places by a tenth or two at most, half a second is a country mile.

Rosberg may even have an issue. It’ll be interesting to see what he says.

Image source, Rex Features, Allsports, Getty Images

Poles at Monza.

Juan Manuel Fangio - 5

Ayrton Senna - 5

Lewis Hamilton - 5

He's getting dangerously close to legendary status.

Mark Gallagher
BBC Radio 5 live Formula 1 analyst

Absolutely extraordinary! Hamilton is leagues ahead of his team-mate and Mercedes leagues ahead of everybody else.

Vettel goes quicker than Raikkonen in an all-Ferrari second row.

P5 Bottas, P6 Ricciardo, P7 Verstappen, P8 Perez, P9 Hulkenberg, P10 Gutierrez.

Hamilton though goes even quicker! Pole for the Briton.

Image source, Getty Images

Here comes Rosberg... he can't beat Hamilton's first time!