Raikkonen quickest, but JPM takes Monza pole.

Juan Pablo Montoya will start Sunday's Italian Grand Prix from pole position after McLaren-Mercedes team-mate Kimi Raikkonen suffered another ten-place penalty after engine problems.

The Finn was aware of the need to press on in the timed session after McLaren diagnosed a valve problem on his Mercedes V10 at the end of morning practice, and duly put in the only lap to break 1min 21secs during qualifying. The engine change would likely have prompted a rethink of strategy in the McLaren camp, with the team weighing up whether to follow the proposed one-stop plan, or take a load of fuel out of the MP4-20 and hope that a mid-grid position, allied to the car's undoubted speed, could make up for having to stop twice or more.

Raikkonen's lap, a 1min 20.878secs effort, will drop the Finn in to eleventh place in the starting line-up, between David Coulthard and Jacques Villeneuve, but the Finn has shown, in both France and Britain, that he has the potential to claw back the loss and at least secure a podium finish.

Montoya's lap was equally committed, the Colombian aware that he will play an important part in limiting any damage to his team-mate's title campaign. Chasing Jenson Button's benchmark, the McLaren was already three-tenths up at the first split and, despite losing a little in the second sector - where Button was faster than anyone bar Raikkonen - had managed to regain the gap at the line.

Button's mark, while a vast improvement over anything else the BAR-Honda man had managed this weekend, was not quite good enough to keep him on the front row, as points leader Fernando Alonso squeezed his Renault into the gap between Montoya and the Briton. Alonso was again caught in something of a dilemma - to play safe knowing that Raikkonen would have to take a penalty, or to keep pushing in order to maintain the pressure on McLaren. In the end, he chose the latter and, despite not getting closer than a couple of tenths to JPM, will be in the Colombian's mirrors from the off on Sunday.

Button eventually settled in third after Raikkonen was dropped back by the officials, the Briton and his crew having somehow turned around a car that refused to behave in free practice. Button first sensed an improvement during the fourth and final 'untimed' session, but claimed his best laps had been ruined by yellow flags, and then delivered when it mattered, pipping BAR team-mate Takuma Sato in the process.

The Japanese driver also turned in one of his best qualifying runs of the season and, on practice form, appeared to be on course to out-qualify Button for only the second time all year. However, an inspired second sector from the Briton ensured that he made it 12-1 in sessions contested this season.

Giancarlo Fisichella probably should have offered greater opposition to the two BARs, but messed up his lap at the first corner, approaching the opening chicane on an unorthodox line and paying the penalty by having to run out over the inside kerb and losing three-tenths instantly. Another error in his haste to make up for the first, when he ran into the gravel at Lesmo 2, added another couple of tenths to that, and the Italian came home in what would become a chastened ninth.

That allowed Jarno Trulli to claim the inside of row three, after matching Sato's times through the first two sectors. The Toyota again looked well enough sorted for the circuit, but Trulli couldn't quite hang on to the time for the remainder of the lap and had to settle for fifth.

He will share row three with Michael Schumacher, the world champion giving the tifosi something to hang on to before race day - and possibly boost what appeared to be a flagging attendance. Among the first out after his Turkish problems, the Ferrari driver hung it all out in an attempt to secure a decent time, and sat on provisional pole until Sato emerged mid-session to topple him. A lock-up into the first chicane probably cost the German a fraction, but he - and the Scuderia - will be satisfied with sixth spot.

Schumacher had team-mate Rubens Barrichello for company on a theoretical front row before Sato's intrusion, the Brazilian also falling back on his Monza record to haul his F2005 up the order after a disappointing practice. He actually appeared to be on course for provisional pole through to the second sector marker, but then fell away over the final third to keep Schumacher in front.

Barrichello will be joined on row four by Fisichella, the pair doing enough to hold off Ralf Schumacher's best effort. Remarkably, this was the Toyota driver's first qualifying attempt at Monza for three years, having had to miss the last two events through injury, although the three-day test last week would have gone some way to getting his act back in the groove. The German matched his elder brother through sector one, but then began conceding valuable tenths, although he avoided a repeat of the dirt-tracking moments he suffered in practice.

Raikkonen's penalty will also elevate David Coulthard into the top ten after the Scot turned in a solid lap in the best of the Red Bull entries. Following team-mate Christian Klien out on track, DC managed to improve on the Austrian's time by a couple of tenths, leaving the youngster sandwiching Jacques Villeneuve's Sauber in twelfth place.

The Canadian was another to shine in what was a session dotted with 'on it' laps, taking his Sauber to a time seven-tenths quicker than team-mate Felipe Massa. The Brazilian is Ferrari-bound next season, and it would be interesting to hear the tifosi's verdict on a lap that left him 15th fastest.

The only potentially frontrunning car behind the Brazilian was that of compatriot Antonio Pizzonia, but the Williams man had the excuse of being hauled from his bed half-an-hour before morning practice when Nick Heidfeld reported sick, the after-effects of last week's testing shunt having finally caught up with him. Pizzonia appeared cautious on his lap, perhaps unwilling to throw it away completely, and will line up just ahead of the Jordans and Minardis.

Team-mate Mark Webber appeared to have put in a decent lap, and will therefore be disappointed to wind up back in 14th. The Australian had been a feature in the top seven during all four practice sessions, but a brief wheel in the gravel moment exiting the second chicane probably scrubbed off the tenths that would have made the difference.

The final four places, as expected, will be shared between Jordan and Minardi, with Tiago Monteiro again confirming the potential of the B-spec EJ15 by out-qualifying both team-mate Narain Karthikeyan and both Robert Doornbos and Christijan Albers. The Portuguese driver turned in a tidy lap, something that could not be said of his team-mate, who endured another ragged lap, courtesy more of the car than his press-on style.

The difference of 1.2secs between the two yellow machines - Karthikeyan's having had to be rebuilt after his practice shunt - allowed Doornbos to split them on the grid, the Dutchman comfortably out-gunning countryman and team-mate Christijan Albers after the more experienced Minardi driver suffered a big moment exiting the Lesmos. Somehow, he managed to keep the car out of the wall, despite being broadside to the road at one point, but was never going to feature in the battle for position.