Red Bull's Max Verstappen qualified third, after a power unit scare in the second phase sent mechanics scrambling to fix his car, with AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly a stunning fourth on the grid.
The six times world champion took the chequered flag at Imola 5.783 seconds ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas, who started on pole position.
Lewis Hamilton took his 98th career pole position in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday
The Dutchman stopped Hamilton from winning an eighth title with a gutsy turn in the final lap.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualified third with team mate Sebastian Vettel a distant seventh on a distinctly off day for the German.
Hamilton, who had also topped Saturday morning's final practice session, never look like being challenged throughout the qualifying hour.
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton became the first Formula One driver to take 100 pole positions after lapping fastest for Mercedes in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.
The pole was the 95th of Hamilton's career and seventh in nine races this season, continuing Mercedes' 100% record in qualifying.
Formula One leader Max Verstappen celebrated a record-equalling ninth successive victory on Sunday after beating the rain to win a chaotic and red-flagged Dutch Grand Prix for the third year in a row.
Valtteri Bottas won the battle but Lewis Hamilton won the war, securing his sixth Formula One world championship on Sunday, despite finishing second to his Mercedes team mate at the US Grand Prix.
I am with my dream team, says Mercedes driver
Lewis Hamilton became Britain's first four-time Formula One world champion at the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday.
'I watched Senna as a child and it would be an honour to match him. Now I'm just one win away but I hope to do even better'
The Mercedes driver smashed the Monza track record with a sensational lap of one minute 18.887 seconds to lead team mate Valtteri Bottas in another front row lockout.
Lewis Hamilton managed to make the most of the adverse conditions to take pole position for Sunday's race.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton took pole for Mercedes at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Red Bull's double World champion Max Verstappen swept to pole position at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Saturday with his sights set on a record 14th victory of the season.
McLaren's Lando Norris dominated the Singapore Grand Prix from start to finish on Sunday to take another chunk out of Max Verstappen's Formula One championship lead.
Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix for a record seventh time on Sunday and extended his title lead to 62 points after relentlessly reeling in Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton can clinch his fifth Formula One world championship at Sunday's US Grand Prix.
Red Bull's double World champion Max Verstappen won the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday to set a Formula One record of 14 victories from a single season, as well as the most points scored.
'I do stand unified with them, trying to do what I can over here'
Lewis Hamilton aims to stay in F1 for at least three more years
Fernando Alonso hailed the Briton as a Formula One great and said he was happy to see him stand on the brink of a fifth world championship.
'It's been ultimately a really great race between two different teams and it ends with a bit of a ... negative. It does kind of feel like a deflated win'
Tom Latham broke the 24-year-old record of Sachin Tendulkar of the highest ODI score made on a birthday
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton overtook main rival Max Verstappen and Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas to win the Portuguese Grand Prix on Sunday and go eight points clear in the Formula One standings.
Hamilton already had more race wins, pole positions and podium finishes than any other driver in the history of the sport.
'I could imagine that, for me it would be like getting to the top of Mount Everest. I mean, what do you do next?' 'At the moment it just feels like another weekend'
Maharashtra's Ruturaj Gaikwad created a new world record as he became the first batter to hit seven sixes in a over in List A cricket, enroute to a swashbuckling double century against Uttar Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Hamilton's 98th career victory, from his 100th pole position, was his third win in four races
Is Lewis Hamilton sufficiently appreciated at home?
IMAGES from the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will be staying in Formula One for the next two years at least after he and Mercedes announced a contract extension on Saturday.
The win was a first for Ferrari in Mexico since 1990 and fourth of Carlos Sainz's career.
The four-time world champion's fifth win of the season for Mercedes left him on 213 points to 189 for Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who finished second, and relishing the prospect of a stress-free family holiday.
Valtteri Bottas took pole position for Formula One's 70th Anniversary Grand Prix ahead of championship-leading Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton on Saturday.
IMAGES from the Silverstone F1 GP on Sunday
Hamilton said he would still be "incredibly proud" to pull level with "an icon like Michael" and seven was way beyond his wildest dreams, but numbers and titles maybe meant more to those on the outside.
It emerged then that former F1 racer Karun Chandhok's post-race video analysis for Sky Sports television formed part of what Ferrari had billed as "quite overwhelming" new and relevant evidence.
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