Fernando Alonso underlined the superiority he has enjoyed all weekend at Monza by dominating qualifying to head up an all-McLaren front row for the Italian Grand Prix.

The world champion ultimately took pole position by just 0.037s from team-mate Lewis Hamilton, but his true advantage was disguised by the fact that he aborted his final run once it became clear that he could not be beaten.

Alonso topped the timing charts in all three sessions and his second pole of the season and the 18th of his career was never really in doubt.

Championship leader Hamilton was his only challenger but the British rookie wasn’t quite able to attack the corners with the same jaw-dropping authority as his team-mate, being slightly less happy with the balance of his MP4-22.

Italian Grand Prix full starting grid:

1. ALONSO Mclaren
2. HAMILTON McLaren
3. MASSA Ferrari
4. HEIDFELD BMW
5. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
6. KUBICA BMW
7. KOVALAINEN Renault
8. ROSBERG Williams
9. TRULLI Toyota
10. BUTTON Honda
11. WEBBER Red Bull
12. BARRICHELLO Honda
13. WURZ Williams
14. DAVIDSON Super Aguri
15. FISICHELLA Renault
16. VETTEL Toro Rosso
17. SATO Super Aguri
18. SCHUMACHER Toyota
19. LIUZZI Toro Rosso
20. COULTHARD Red Bull
21. SUTIL Spyker
22. YAMAMOTO Spyker