Kimi Raikkonen denied Michael Schumacher on Ferrari's home ground at Monza by a whisker with a late lap to claim pole position for the Italian Grand Prix.
Schumacher looked to have snatched top spot with his own lap late in the session but with no time left on the clock Raikkonen snatched it away from him by the narrowest of margins.
The McLaren driver, who is expected to be unveiled as Schumacher's 2007 replacement at Ferrari, clocked a lap of one minute 21.484 seconds to beat the German by 0.002secs.
Schumacher at least had the satisfaction of comfortably beating world championship rival Fernando Alonso, who was fifth but later dumped to 10th on the grid after being stripped of his best three lap times in final qualifying for blocking Felippe Massa. The Renault driver, who leads the championship by 12 points, also suffered an ill-timed puncture to disrupt his progress in final qualifying.
After being forced to miss the first chicane to avoid Massa's Ferrari, his right rear Michelin tyre exploded just moments later, taking with it a chunk of bodywork. He was able to return to the track and rescue a third-row start but his championship lead is under threat tomorrow, especially with Schumacher's team-mate Massa lining up just ahead on fourth.
Nick Heidfeld scored BMW-Sauber's best-ever qualifying result with third place.
Jenson Button shrugged off Honda's engine drama yesterday to take sixth place as he looks to score points for the fourth consecutive race. His team-mate Rubens Barrichello starts ninth, just ahead of the other Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella.
Red Bull driver David Coulthard starts 14th after missing the cut in second qualifying.
Button's last-gasp flying lap knocked Toyota's Jarno Trulli out and he starts 11th after missing the top-10 shoot-out.
Mark Webber was the biggest casualty of first qualifying after a lacklustre effort for Williams. The Australian, who will drive for Red Bull next season, was outqualified by team-mate Nico Rosberg for the first time since June after posting the 19th fastest time.
That session only lasted five minutes before red flags signalled a premature interruption, courtesy of Sakon Yamamoto's puncture. The Super Aguri driver's Bridgestone tyre exploded on the start-finish straight, shattering pieces of bodywork and leaving razor-sharp carbon fibre littering the track.
