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Qualifying positions

Juan Pablo Montoya produced the fastest Formula One lap of all time to take pole position for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.

The Colombian broke the lap record at Monza, averaging a speed of more than 160mph as, for once, Williams-BMW gained the upper hand over Ferrari.

His average speed of 161.484mph beats the previous outright F1 fastest lap of 160.938mph, set by Keke Rosberg in a Williams-Honda FW10 at the 1985 British Grand Prix.

Photo Gallery: Monza qualifying in pictures

Pole position switched throughout a fascinating qualifying period, with Ralf Schumacher looking set for his first pole of the season until Montoya's blistering display.

Michael Schumacher had to settle for second
And the younger Schumacher's final chance of taking pole was hampered as the session was halted late on after a collision between Kimi Raikkonen and Takuma Sato.

Williams and Ferrari experimented with their tyre set-ups, with both choosing hard tyres in the hope of better race performance.

The Michelins of Williams proved more successful.

Lapwatch: Monza qualifying

Montoya took first blood for Williams, posting a time of one minute 21.162 seconds after 25 minutes of the session.

But Michael Schumacher went one tenth of a second quicker within a minute to steal provisional pole.

Schumacher then improved his position, with 1:20.730 - only to see his brother edge ahead moments later.

Then came Montoya's history-making lap - a stunning, flawless ride which saw him driving at an average speed of 161.46mph throughout the lap.

We were just not fast enough

Michael Schumacher

The Colombian broke the record set by Finland's Keke Rosberg - also in a Williams - at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone 17 years ago.

Afterwards he said: "It's great to get the record.

"It's pretty amazing how fast we went - something like two seconds a lap quicker than last year."

The Ferraris looked as though they would be knocked off the front row.

But Michael Schumacher was not finished and his final qualifying lap was his fastest at 1:20.521 and put him on the front row of the grid, behind Montoya.

The German said: "We were just not fast enough in qualifying, but we hope that we are fast enough in the race."

Ralf Schumacher had to settle for third ahead of Rubens Barrichello, who seemed slightly off the pace throughout the session.

Raikkonen initially claimed fifth place, and Eddie Irvine sixth.

But the stewards swapped those positions to punish Raikkonen, after deciding that he was to blame for the accident which halted the session.