Tifosi cheer Alonso to debut Ferrari pole at Monza

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso took a surprise pole position at the Scuderia's home race in Monza this afternoon, posting a time of 1m21.962s to beat favourites McLaren and team-mate Felipe Massa to score a hugely popular pole in front of the fanatical tifosi supporters. Despite failing to improve on his second Q3 run, his first flying lap was good enough to beat the opposition, helping him to his first Ferrari pole position.

Nearest challenger Jenson Button fell a tenth short, despite having improved on his second run, finishing the session on a 1m22.084s. He was two tenths clear of Massa in third (1m22.293s), while Red Bull's Mark Webber produced a magnificent display to get his Renault-powered car to fourth (1m22.433s).

Lewis Hamilton (1m22.623s) will be disappointed to be only fifth, while Sebastian Vettel (1m22.675s), Nico Rosberg (1m23.027s), Nico Hulkenberg (1m23.037s), Robert Kubica (1m23.039s) and Rubens Barrichello (1m23.328s) rounded out the top ten.