Monza: Lewis Hamilton will start in 12th position in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix after a surprisingly poor qualifying session from the Mercedes driver.
Hamilton, who won at Monza last year, was chasing a fifth successive pole position but he failed to even make Q3 on Saturday.
"I just drove like an idiot," Hamilton said. "That's the worst I've driven for a long, long time. I'm sorry to the team."
Hamilton was third after Q1 but then drove into the dirt before getting caught behind Force India's Adrian Sutil on his final lap.
"Yep (I was impeded), but there's nothing you can do about it," Hamilton continued. "I should have done a lap before that. I just didn't drive well. There's not really much more to say. I was quick in Q1 and then I don't know. I'll do whatever I can from where I am but it's going to be tough."
It is Hamilton's worst qualifying session this season and his lowest position on the grid since last year's Spanish Grand Prix, where he was demoted to last place after a mistake from McLaren put him in breach of F1 rules.
Hamilton trails championship leader Sebastian Vettel by 58 points in the standings. Vettel will start in pole position on Sunday.
Hamilton can take inspiration from Sergio Perez's fantastic drive at Monza last year where he powered through the field to finish second despite starting in 12th position.
It was also a disappointing qualifying session for Kimi Raikkonen, who will start 11th. Both Lotus drivers failed to make Q3 and teammate Romain Grosjean will start 13th.
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