FORMULA ONE:Lewis Hamilton will start from 15th while Sebastian Vettel will be in pole position for the first time in his career in tomorrow's Italian Grand Prix following one of the most astonishing qualifying sessions seen for many years.
Rain battered the Monza circuit throughout, turning qualifying into a lottery at the end of which Vettel and Toro Rosso were the major winners, sparking feverish celebrations in the team's garage.
Felipe Massa could only manage sixth in his Ferrari, but as for championship leader Hamilton, he suffered during a woeful Q2 and will start a career-low 15th, one place behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
Hamilton effectively blew it at the start of the second session as he bided his time before emerging from the pits, and he paid the price.
A few minutes into the 15-minute period the rain scythed down, and only then did Hamilton take to the track, the last of the 15 to do so.
The other 14 at that stage had all managed to effectively put in a banker lap, and it was those times which carried them through as the track grew progressively slower as the rain became heavier.
Unfortunately for Hamilton and Raikkonen, fellow title challenger Massa just managed to scrape through into the top 10, and it proved crucial for the Brazilian.
Then shortly after Q2 drew to a close, the rain significantly eased, arguably adding to 23-year-old Hamilton's frustration.
Behind Vettel, giving his team their first pole, comes Heikki Kovalainen in his McLaren, followed by Red Bull's Mark Webber and the second Toro Rosso of Sebastien Bourdais.
Nico Rosberg will start fifth in his Williams, followed by Massa, the Toyota of Jarno Trulli, Renault's Fernando Alonso, Timo Glock in his Toyota and the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld.
It was always going to be an enthralling qualifying session, and so it proved as the field was turned on its head.
The conditions could not have been more treacherous, the worst for a qualifying session for some time, putting the drivers on the ragged edge.
It meant a clear track was more essential than usual, not just due to traffic, but more pertinently to avoid the plumes of spray from any drivers in front.
But unlike in the dry when a driver posts a hot lap and returns to the pits for fresh rubber, on the extreme wet tyres they were able to run a series of laps in a bid to improve their times.
Rain had started to fall shortly before the start of final practice and ceased soon after the end, returning again 15 minutes prior to the pit lane re-opening for qualifying.
Appreciably, the first few laps were tentative as the drivers tested where they could go quick and where the puddles of water lay.
The opening 20 minutes of qualifying served up more action than is usually seen throughout the entire hour, with drivers completing 12 and 13 laps.
It was Q2, though, which threw up the most dramatic of periods seen this season, with another title challenger in BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica also eliminated as he will start 11th.
For the first time this year, a Force India finally made it into Q2, with Giancarlo Fisichella starting a superb 12th ahead of the Red Bull of David Coulthard, Raikkonen and then Hamilton.
The first qualifying period ended with another Force India driver, Adrian Sutil, at the bottom of the timesheets as he will start 20th.
Also relegated were Rubens Barrichello in his Honda, the Brazilian starting 16th, with Renault's Nelson Piquet 17th and the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima 18th.
Disappointingly Jenson Button will start 19th for Honda, describing the car as the worst he has ever driven in these conditions.
Beaming after becoming the youngest driver in the Formula One history to claim pole at the age of 21 years 73 days, Vettel said: "Unbelievable! Incredible!
"I said to my engineers that if it was wet we had to go for pole.
"But the conditions were so bad, and sometimes I almost lost the car because of aqua-planing.
"But this is just amazing. I never ever dreamed I would be on pole, and at our home grand prix.
"There are two Italian teams - people know all about Scuderia Ferrari, but now those people will know about Scuderia Toro Rosso."
Kovalainen was happy enough as he said: "We're in a good position for the race tomorrow.
"The car's been good in all conditions, we were good in the recent test, so hopefully we should have a good race."