F1: Hamilton Leads McLaren Qualifying Sweep

Formula 1

F1: Hamilton Leads McLaren Qualifying Sweep

Teammates Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button grabbed the top two grid positions for the Italian GP...

Jared Turner | Posted September 08, 2012 Monza (ITA)

Nearly unstoppable as of late, McLaren continued to punish the competition in qualifying Saturday at Monza.

Looking to make it three straight victories in Sunday's Italian GP, the British team made it three straight poles as Lewis Hamilton (1:24:010) topped the Q3 time sheet over teammate Jenson Button (1:24:133).

"It's been a tough weekend but we've managed to work on the setup and the package the guys brought from the factory, and they've done a fantastic job," Hamilton said. "I'm pretty happy, and it's great for the team to have me and Jenson up front."

Hamilton, of course, didn't need to win the pole to make headlines. The 2008 World Champion has been the focus of much speculation since reports began circulating midweek that he could leave McLaren for Mercedes at the end of the season.

Hamilton and McLaren officials have both indicated that contract negotiations for 2013 are still ongoing.

"I haven't had any distracitons this weekend, so it has been quite positive," Hamilton said after winning his fourth pole of 2012.

Button, meanwhile, comes into the weekend fresh off a pole and victory last weekend in Belgium.

"I think the last few races have really shown our strength, and having us both on the front row is great," the 2009 World Champion said. "Even being on the front row, it's not going to be an easy race, but it's the best place to be."

Felipe Massa, Paul Di Resta and Michael Schumacher completed the top five.

Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Kimi Raikkonen, Kamui Kobayashi and points leader Fernando Alonso filled out the rest of the top 10.

Alonso's run, hampered by a broken sway bar, was surely disappointing after the Spaniard ran second in Saturday morning's final practice at his Maranello-based team's home track.

Lewis Hamilton has won four poles in 2012. (Photo: Getty Images)

Qualifying one spot below Alonso and just missing the Q3 cut was Mark Webber, whose usually stout Red Bull has been uncharacteristically mediocre all weekend.

"I think we're a little bit more competitive for the race but we want to be starting further up," Australian Webber said. "That's roughly where we thought we'd be, and that's where we ended up."

Pastor Maldonado qualified 12th but will start only 22nd due to a pair of five-place penalties resulting from incidents last weekend in Belgium.

Jerome D'Ambrosio, subbing for the suspended Romain Grosjean, was 16th in the Lotus but will move up a spot on the grid because of Maldonado's penalty.

Sunday's Italian Grand Prix is the 13th of 20 events on the 2012 Formula One calendar, which concludes in late November with the Brazilian GP.

Coming into the weekend, Alonso leads the drivers' standings by 24 points over Vettel and 32 over Webber. Raikkonen (-33) and Hamilton (-47) complete the top five.

Alonso leads F1 in victories with three, while Webber, Button and Hamilton, with two victories apiece, are the season's other repeat winners.

SPEED's live coverage of the Italian GP begins Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET.

Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.