Welcome back to ESPN's live coverage of the Italian Grand Prix weekend as we prepare for qualifying at Monza.

Apologies for our delay at the start of this session. A couple of technical problems at this end, but we are with you now. Gutierrez the fastest so far in Q1 with a 1:23.984 as the big hitters head out on track.

Ocon's car has come to a halt in the run off at Turn 1. The Manor appears to have stopped with a mechanical issue of some sort.

Hamilton sets the fastest time of the weekend with a 1:21.854 on super-soft tyres, Rosberg can only manage a 1:22.497 but had his lap interrupted by the yellow flags for Ocon.

Ocon reports the same issue as the one he had in FP2 yesterday, so that's means an electrical systems issue.

Verstappen goes third fastest with a lap on the super-softs but he is still 1.375 off Hamilton

The two Ferraris move ahead of Verstappen using soft tyres. Vettel is 1.223s off Hamilton but using a slower compound.

So we know Ocon is going out at the end of this session, but who will join him? Renault have been struggling here all weekend but Wehrlein and the Saubers will be hoping to book a place in Q2.

McLaren looked quick on Friday, but as rival teams have started to turn up the power they have slipped down the order. Q2 should be possible but Q3 will be tough.

Alonso is currently 18th and in the drop zone along with Nasr, but both have just bolted on super-softs for another go.

Button on a personal best, as is Alonso, just 0.052s separating the two McLaren drivers on their final attempts in Q1.

Button pulls an extra 0.2s on Alonso in sector two as both are on PBs.

Magnussen is out, Alonso goes 14th, Ericsson is out.

Wehrlein beats Alonso to 14th now and the McLaren is on the cusp of being knocked out.

But neither Kvyat nor Nasr are quick enough to beat Alonso, meaning the McLaren driver makes it through by just 0.042s. That is a very small margin even for Monza.

Kvyat says he f---ed the last corner again, so it sounds like Alonso got a bit lucky there. Meanwhile, Nasr reports a misfire, which may well have accounted for the 0.173s to Alonso.

Wehrlein impresses once again on a track that certainly suits the Manor. He was 15th fastest and 0.023s quicker than Alonso.

Both Haas drivers in the top ten in that session, which bodes well for the American team (despite Grosjean's five-place grid drop for a gearbox change) and for the Ferrari engine update at Monza this weekend.

Both Ferraris made it to Q2 with ease using the soft tyres. Not a strategy we usually expect in Q1, but expect to see more teams attempt to make Q3 with soft tyres in Q2 to allow them to start on the yellow-striped compound.

Q2 is underway. Sainz, the McLarens and Wehrlein all look like they are under threat in this session. But if that is the case, there are also two other drivers that will be knocked out, so pressure on Perez and Massa who were both outside the top 10 in Q1.

The two Mercedes head out on soft tyres, attempting to qualify for Q3 on that compound so that they can start the race on them. That would set up the option of a one-stop race with a second stint on the mediums.

Hamilton holds a 0.311s gap over Rosberg as they both complete their lap on soft tyres. Both times are comfortably in the 1:21s, which should be enough to book two places in Q3.

Oddly, Hamilton stays out for an extra lap than Rosberg, adding one lap of use to the tyres he plans to start the race on.

The Ferraris head out on super-softs, clearly not convinced they have the pace to match the Mercedes and qualify for Q3 on the softs. Red Bull, however, are attempting a soft tyre lap to make Q3.

Maybe Ferrari know something we don't about tomorrow's strategy, but I can't see an advantage to starting on the super-softs.

Vettel goes third, but still has a 0.777s gap to Hamilton despite being on the faster compound.

Ricciardo and Verstappen are ninth and tenth trying the softs, but I doubt that will be enough with a few drivers still to come on super-soft Q2 laps.

Sainz is currently 11th and 0.4s off Verstappen. But Hulkeberg and Grosjean may well improve from their positions and put the Red Bulls positions at threat.

Alonso and Button meanwhile have not been able to beat Wehrlein, but all three used a used set of super-softs for their first run.

Ricciardo and Verstappen react to the threat from behind by leaving the garage on super-softs.

Vettel and Bottas remain in the pits, but all the other cars have gone out for another run, including the Mercedes. Both Mercedes on softs again.

Green sectors for Hulkenberg, Alonso and Button, Verstappen's first sector was actually slower than his soft tyre lap.

Verstappen improving in the middle sector and sets a 1:22.857 to go sixth.

Alonso and Button drop out after failing to make the cut.

Ricciardo goes sixth on the super-softs to secure his place in Q3

Massa and Grosjean are out. Both Force Indias go through in ninth and tenth.

Massa misses out by 0.016s to Hulkenberg and 0.045s to Perez. It was very close for those final two places in Q2.

Hamilton did not improve on his second run, meaning he will start on the tyres he set his first lap on. There seems to be some concern that he flatspotted one of his tyres on his first attempt, which he may have to carry through to the start of the race if the FIA does not deem it bad enough to be replaced.

Grosjean will drop five places from 12th, moving Alonso to 12th, Wehrlein to 13th and Button to 14th.

Confirmation from the team radio that Hamilton did flatspot that first set of tyres. Mercedes will have to approach the FIA to see if he can get that change for a like-for-like tyre of similar age.

Great result by Gutierrez to go seventh, the first appearance for Haas since joining F1 at the start of the year. Grosjean was ninth in Bahrain, but that was when we still had the odd knock-out qualifying system that only had eight cars in Q3.

Q3 is underway. Analysis of the two Mercedes drivers' best sectors show that Rosberg is losing most of his time in sector three to Hamilton. That consists of Ascari and Parabolica, which are both high-speed corners.

New supersofts for the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers at the start of this session, Gutierrez and the Force Indias have to go out for their first attempt on used super-softs.

Fresh boots for the Red Bulls too, but in reality this is a battle for pole between the two Mercedes drivers.

Hamiulton 0.171s up on Rosberg already through the first sector.

And Hamilton takes another 0.029s out of Rosberg in sector two.

Slightly underwhelming 1:21.646 for Rosberg and Hamilton beats that by 0.288s, but he found most of that time in sector 1 and did not really impress as much as he has done in the final sector.

A replay shows Rosberg ran a few inches wide in the second chicane, so he can certainly hope to improve on his second run.

Raikkonen goes third, 0.707s off Hamilton and 0.282s quicker than teammate Vettel.

Bottas has the fifth fastest time at the moment, ahead of the two Red Bulls. That just underlines how disappointing Massa's lap was in Q2.

Gutierrez ends up in the gravel on the exit of the second Lesmo. Lap ruined but he should get another shot in the next five minutes.

Massa takes the positives from his qualifying saying he gets to choose what tyres he starts on. But Williams should really be in the top six here.

Rosberg and Hamilton head out on fresh super-soft tyres.

The rest of the top ten follow suit, all on fresh super-softs.

Rosberg is on track ahead of Hamilton, with Hulkenberg's Force India sitting in between.

Rosberg is already 0.155s slower than Hamilton's best through sector one...

Hamilton is also slower than his best first sector...

Rosberg misses pole by 0.255s

Hamilton improves on his first lap by 0.233s! Amazing lap, giving him a 0.478s margin over Rosberg.

Vettel beats Raikkonen to third place by 0.130s, but the gap to Mercedes makes uncomfortable reading for Ferrari at their home race, standing at a massive 0.837s.

Bottas secures fifth ahead of the two Red Bulls, with Ricciardo ahead of Verstappen.

Perez beats Force India teammate Hulkenberg to eighth, Gutierrez has to settle for tenth, but still a good result for Haas.

So Hamilton's best effort stood at 1:21.135 - very impressive and 2.2s quicker than pole position here last year. Part of that is due to the super-softs, part is due to the massive progress made over the last year with power unit and chassis.

To add a bit of context, Montoya's 2004 lap (still the fastest F1 lap of all time) was a 1:19.525, but that shouldn't take anything away from Hamilton's effort today. A massive margin over the rest of the field.

Thanks for joining us for qualifying today. We'll have all the reaction this evening before live commentary of the race tomorrow afternoon.