Rain battered the Monza circuit throughout, turning qualifying into a lottery, at the end of which Vettel and Toro Rosso were the major winners, sparking feverish celebrations in the team's garage.

Felipe Massa could only manage sixth in his Ferrari, but as for championship leader Hamilton, he suffered during a woeful Q2 and will start a career-low 15th, one place behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton effectively blew it at the start of the second session as he bided his time before emerging from the pits, and he paid the price.

A few minutes into the 15-minute period the rain scythed down, and only then did Hamilton take to the track, the last of the 15 to do so.

The other 14 at that stage had all managed to effectively put in a banker lap, and it was those times which carried them through as the track grew progressively slower as the rain became heavier.

Unfortunately for Hamilton and Raikkonen, fellow title challenger Massa just managed to scrape through into the top 10, and it proved crucial for the Brazilian.

Behind Vettel, giving his team their first pole, comes Heikki Kovalainen in his McLaren, followed by Red Bull's Mark Webber and the second Toro Rosso of Sebastien Bourdais.

Nico Rosberg will start fifth in his Williams, followed by Massa, the Toyota of Jarno Trulli, Renault's Fernando Alonso, Timo Glock in his Toyota and the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld.