Welcome back to ESPNF1's live text commentary. In about 30 minutes time the first qualifying session will kick off and we'll keep you up to date with all the action as it happens. After final practice Red Bull looks quick but the top eight cars were only split by one second.

Mercedes are in the mix this weekend with both Rosberg and Schumacher ahead of Alonso in FP3 and not far off the McLarens ahead. It's hard to judge exactly how the top eight stack up but there's no doubt that Red Bull are more competitive this year than they were 12 months ago.

The big question for the teams ahead of qualifying has been how much rear wing they should run in order to give them downforce in the corners while balancing the amount of drag it creates on the long straights. In qualifying the drivers can operate their DRS to cut drag and go faster but on race day the use of the DRS will be limited to overtaking situations in the two activation zones.

Outside the top eight Force India look very competitive and should give Renault something to think about this weekend. The Renaults have consistently been the fastest through the speed traps with Senna registering a top speed of 347km/h in FP3.

The Saubers aren't too far off the Renaults but they have admitted that this probably won't be one of their stronger tracks.

Of course the first session of qualifying, which will kick off in 15 minutes, is all about who will drop out and make up the back of the grid. There is no doubt that the HRTs, Virgins and Lotuses are the most likely candidates but they will be joined by one other. Assuming everyone completes a competitive lap, one of the the Toro Rossos or one of the Williamses is probably going to join them as neither car has looked impressive in practice so far.

But the most pressure this weekend is on Ferrari. The home fans and media have such high expectations and so does this man, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo.

© Sutton Images

Montezemolo often attends the Italian Grand Prix but rarely makes it to the others, so the team will be on its best behaviour this weekend.

The session is less than ten minutes away now. The teams are warming up their engines in the garages.

Virgin is ready for the start of the session: "Jerome very happy with the car in FP3 and now looking forward to qualifying"

Track temperature is now a whopping 43C with air temperature up to 29C.

The main grandstand opposite the pits isn't as full as we're used too but it is also one of the most expensive seats in the house. There are more people down at the chicanes.

Interesting stat from Renault Sport: "Fastest lap of the year here as engine revs run at max for over 75% of the lap"

Lotuses Mike Gascoyne says that the soft tyres are taking a couple of laps before the offer optimum grip: "Tyres taking several laps to come in so expect teams to run 2 runs of 3-5laps"

Trulli is the first man to hit the track in the Lotus. He's joined by the Virgins and HRTs as they head out to get their banker laps in.

Trulli has backed off on his first lap to let Perez past but will now get a tow down the pit straight on his second lap.

Meanwhile, Kovalainen has locked up and skipped the first chicane on his first attempt.

Pirelli says: "Medium tyres the default option for the top runners, Trulli first on track with the softs." The top drivers don't want to use a set of the grippier softs unnecessarily.

Lots of cars out on track now with just Webber, Schumacher and Maldonado still in the pits.

Button sets a 1:24.872 on the mediums but we can expect much faster times than that.

Alonso sets a 1:25.000 on his first lap but the cars are likely to stay out on track for some time on these tyres and well get faster as the tyres warm up and the fuel loads come down.

Vettel goes quickest with a 1:24.002 and Button has improved to a 1:24.190

Maldonado has had an accident coming out of the Parabolica and swiped his front wing off. It looked as though he lost the rear as he activated the DRS and the car speared right and into the barrier. Not good as he hasn't set a time yet. He's gone straight back to the pits so Williams can assess the damage.

Hamilton sets a new fastest time with a 1:23.976, just 0.028s faster than Vettel. Both of them are on the medium tyres.

Maldonado confirms that it was the DRS that caught him out as the mechanics swarm around the front of the car to prepare it to head back out.

Rosberg has set a stonking first sector in the Mercedes, but he's been struggling to match the Red Bulls and McLarens in sectors two and three.

Rosberg pops up to sixth with his latest attempt, ahead of Webber.

Maldonado is back out so the fight to get through to Q2 is back on for the cars towards the rear of the midfield.

Perez is out on soft tyres, most of the midfield will have to do the same to make sure of a place in Q2.

Maldonado pops up to 12th on soft tyres, which drops Senna into the drop zone.

Senna improves but its only good enough for 15th so he still needs to find some extra time from the soft tyres he now has on his car.

Kobayahsi is now in the drop zone and is only slightly faster through sector two. He moves up to 16th.

Senna finds safety as he pops up in tenth.

Buemi and Kobayashi are now under pressure to improve...

Barrichello and Alguersuari now under pressure as Buemi and Kobayashi find more time.

Barrichello improves and that leaves Alguersuari back in 18th and out of qualifying along with the two Lotuses, Virgins and HRTs.

Alguersuari finished 0.16s off team-mate Buemi in the end, but it was enough to drop him out of Q2. On the plus side he will save some fresh soft tyres for the race.

Trulli outqualified Lotus team-mate Kovalainen and Ricciardo managed to stick his HRT ahead of Liuzzi.

The Williamses and Senna head out for the start of Q2.

Maldonado has opted for mediums on his first run which seems like a strange decision as he needs all the performance he can get. He may well switch to softs later in this session and save a fresh set for the race in the process.

Senna is straight out on the softs and is the fastest man on the track at the moment. But that won't last long as Vettel and Button are on their outlaps.

Senna improves with a 1:24.715 on his first lap, 0.2s faster than his lap in Q1.

Vettel jumps straight to the top of the timing sheets with a 1:23.105.

Vettel sets the fastest time of the weekend on his second lap with a 1:22.914. Impressive stuff at this stage.

Rosberg puts in a decent effort for second place with a 1:23.335. Schumacher can only manage ninth on his first lap.

Button edges closer to Vettel with a 1:23.031 but it's still not close enough.

Of course the focus in this session is on who will make it through to Q3. Senna and Pertov look good but we are expecting them to face stiff competition from the Force Indias. Schumacher will also have to improve if he wants to make certain of his place.

Another Renault Sport stat: "Pole last year was 1'21.962, best lap time so far (from Vettel) was 1'22.914"

Schumacher has improved with a 1:23.671. He's now sixth ahead of Massa and Hamilton.

Hamilton has gone back out to protect his position in Q3.

Di Resta puts Senna out of the top ten with his latest effort. Can the Renault driver respond?

Senna is now on a another lap but the first sector is not great. Petrov is staying in the pits so clearly feels confident.

Hamilton is on a better lap.

Sutil goes 11th ahead of Senna but can't beat di Resta. He'lll get one more lap though.

Senna now starts his final hot lap in Q2.

Senna has a better first sector. Sutil has given up.

And Senna sneaks in to Q3 by 0.006s. Di Rest is out.

So we have two Red Bulls, two McLarens, two Ferraris, two Mercedes and two Renaults in Q3.

Force India tell di Resta that Senna's lap was no doubt helped by a tow down the back straight behind Hamilton.

Senna's result will have kept his bosses happy. Two Q3 appearances in as many races for Renault. Not bad at all.

It turns out hamilton did not need to run again but better be safe than sorry. He finished the session third in the end, 0.258 off Vettel.

Q3 is underway. The two Ferraris are the first out on track after a slight delay.

Massa is leading Alonso on track and trying very hard to leave the Spaniard in his wake.

Alonso sets his fastest lap yet with a 1:22.999 but Button smashes that with a 1:22.777.

Vettel clocks a 1:22.613 and Hamilton slots in in a provisional second place with 1:22.725. Webber is still in the pits waiting for the right time to head out.

Vettel is going even quicker on his second lap on these tyres. But he backed off after a mistake in the middle of Ascari.

Hamilton, Button et al are back in the pits while Vettel heads back. he should just have enough time to get out again.

Rosberg is out on medium tyres so Mercedes are opting for a different strategy.

Webber is also out on track now but isn't setting the world alight. He's fifth fastest as he crosses the line.

Everybody else is now piling back out of the pits for a pole position shootout.

Senna is not going out in this session.

Cars are now queuing down the back straight as Webber completes another slow lap.

Rosberg is fastest through the first sector again but won't sustain it later in the lap.

Button pits early so doesn't complete a lap. Hamilton does the same and Vettel improves to a 1:22.275.

Webber is still back in fifth with Alonso ahead of him in fourth.

So Vettel crushed the spirit of the McLarens on that lap and we saw both Hamilton and Button return to the pits. Hamilton made a small lock up on his last lap but it won't matter as he aborted it and will start the race on a different set of softs.

It was a brilliant lap by Vettel with the perfect combination of aggression and control. Nobody could touch him today and he took his tenth pole position this season.

Hamilton and Button are in a good position for the race and the DRS could still throw a swerve ball. Alonso is also in the hunt in fourth and should have another good battle with Webber who starts from fifth.

Thank you for joining us today. Make sure you check the website for all the reaction tonight and come back for tomorrow's race. With the DRS it should be a thriller.