Italian Grand Prix qualifying: Hamilton breaks pole record in Monza rain

Final practice and qualifying were both hugely delayed today due to the wet conditions. Romain Grosjean headed out on track in the early afternoon, and declared that he couldn't see. Then he proved it.

The drivers went back to their garages, and several decided to set up live social media streams, providing much more entertainment than one might expect of a rain-interrupted qualifying session. Lewis Hamilton set the trend by hooking up Instagram Live, then roping in his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas for some PlayStation action.

When things got under way, in obviously slippery conditions, Grosjean couldn't join the rest of the pack, signalling the start of a very disappointing afternoon for Haas, with Kevin Magnussen falling into the drop zone as well, along with both Saubers - and Jolyon Palmer, who had an upsurge in form in Belgium following his summer break.

Bottas led the field, two-tenths of a second faster than Hamilton - but perhaps most impressive was Lance Stroll, in P5 after that dreadful qualifying for Williams last weekend.

Max Verstappen set the mark to beat on wet tyres - and Sebastian Vettel took it over on intermediates, showing the quick-changing track conditions.

Ultimately, the Mercedes cars swapped places at the top of the leaderboard - but Stroll stayed up there in fifth. Surprised expressions crossed faces, eyebrows were raised, elbows were nudged. Could this be...a very good weekend for Williams? Finally?

Bottas let his quick form slip after such a good day for him as the rain began to fall again, and Hamilton snatched it - becoming an all-time record holder with his 69th career pole position.

And how about those Red Bulls? Lurking in the pack all day, and then sneaking in to take second (Verstappen) and third (Daniel Ricciardo, who was in provisional pole for much of Q3). Still, because of grid penalties, neither will start from there - it'll be Lance Stroll, yes, THAT Lance Stroll, taking his place alongside Hamilton on the front row. The Williams team must have their fingers crossed that everything goes just as well tomorrow.

Bad weather always mixes things up, and this qualifying was no different. Sure, Lewis Hamilton set a new record and ended up on top of the pile, but look at that top ten - Force India and Williams both ahead of two Ferraris, and McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne up in the mix too.

Esteban Ocon will be relieved to be well clear of his team-mate Sergio Perez on the grid after last weekend's disaster, and may finally prove how pacy those Force Indias are.

The tifosi will have been disappointed to see such a lukewarm display from the Ferraris in their home race - and will hope for better things from Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen tomorrow, who will get bumped up two places on the grid due to the Red Bull penalties.

Hamilton - Vettel - Verstappen