Kimi Raikkonen put his Ferrari on pole position for the Italian Grand Prix with the fastest lap ever recorded in Formula 1 history on Sunday morning (NZ time).
The 38-year-old Finn triumphed in a thrilling battle at Monza with Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, taking pole with the last lap of the session.
Raikkonen's stunning lap of 1m 19.119s, at an average speed of 263.58km/h, smashed the track record of 1m 19.525s set by Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya for Williams at Monza in 2004.
"I couldn't think of being on pole in a better race. I am hoping tomorrow I can end up in the same position," Raikkonen said.
It was his first pole position since Monaco last year, the 18th of his career and Ferrari's first at Monza since 2010, when they last won at the track outside Milan.
He also became the oldest pole-sitter since Britain's Nigel Mansell in 1994.
The Italian crowd was delighted with what they witnessed, but Vettel was far from impressed. The German thought he had the pole and exclaimed 'Yes!' as he crossed the line only to be told he was second-fastest to the teammate following behind.
"We speak later," he said.
"Clearly I wasn't happy but I don't tell you why," explained the German when asked by reporters later what he planned to discuss.
Vettel is 17 points adrift of championship leader Lewis Hamilton in the standings with eight rounds remaining.
Hamilton starts the race from third, while New Zealander Brendon Hartley will start from 16th.
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