Motor racing-Hamilton fails in bid for fifth successive pole

Reuters

MONZA, Italy, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Lewis Hamilton failed in his bid for a fifth successive Formula One pole position in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday. The Mercedes driver, and last year's winner with McLaren from pole at Monza, was only 12th fastest in the second phase of qualifying and missed the cut that sets the top 10 battle for pole. Stewards were investigating an incident between Hamilton and Force India's Adrian Sutil, who appeared to hold up the Mercedes. Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen, another title contender, also missed out after ending the session in 11th place. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by John Mehaffey)