FORMULA ONE

• Vettel surprise Italian GP pole winner at rainy Monza

  
  

  Monza, Italy (Sports Network) - Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel overcame rainy conditions to win Saturday's qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix and became Formula One's youngest-ever pole sitter.

  The 21-year-old German recorded a lap time of one minute, 37.555 seconds during the third and final qualifying session to capture his first career pole in his 21st Grand Prix start.

  "Unbelievable, incredible," Vettel said. "The conditions were so difficult today, a lot of water. You never knew how much water to expect. Sometimes you were lucky not to lose the car. What can I say, I never dreamt of being on the pole." Vettel also gave Toro Rosso its first F1 pole.

  Starting alongside Vettel will be McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, who recorded a time of 1:37.631.

  Mark Webber (1:38.117) and Sebastien Bourdais (1:38.445) will make up row two.

  Surprisingly, current points leader Lewis Hamilton and defending World Champion Kimi Raikkonen failed to advance into the third session as track conditions deteriorated during the second round.

  Hamilton qualified 15th, making it the first time the Briton failed to appear in the final session in his F1 career. Raikkonen, who extended his contract with Ferrari through 2010 this week, qualified 14th.

  Hamilton enters the Italian GP with just a two-point lead over Felipe Massa, who will start sixth.

  The race begins Sunday at 8 a.m. (et).

  09/13 11:00:28 ET