Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton saw off a strong Ferrari challenge at the Italian team's home Grand Prix to seal his seventh pole position in a row and 11th in 12 races on Saturday.
The 22-year-old McLaren driver needed to win or finish ahead of team mate Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen at the Chinese Grand Prix to win the world title but his race ended when he slid off the asphalt and into the gravel when approaching the pit lane.
Michael Schumacher was third with sole title rival Kimi Raikkonen fifth quickest.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen kept himself in the Formula One title race on Sunday with his third Belgian Grand Prix win in a row.
The Renault driver said with a bit of passion and luck, and good performance from the car, he can win the US Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver is one point ahead of Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya and two clear of McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen with two races remaining after Monza.\n\n
Ralf Schumacher eclipsed his older brother Michael in Friday's first qualifying at the German Grand Prix.\n\n
Ferrari's technical director said the Finn is an exceptional driver who doesn't appear to make many errors.
Williams's Formula One championship challenge is on after they ousted McLaren as Ferrari's closest rivals.
McLaren were back, ending their biggest slump of the last two decades to emerge as winners for the first time since March last year, and so too was real racing.
The Finn won the race for the second year in a row and kept Renault's Fernando Alonso waiting for the Formula One title.
The 23-year-old Finn has 48 points compared to the 44 of Ferrari's second-placed Michael Schumacher.
The F1 world champion said he could not imagine driving for any other team than Ferrari and he would welcome the Finn as a team mate.
TAG Heuer brand ambassador and 2003 Formula One World Championship runner-up Kimi Raikkonen was extensively involved in the design of the Formula One range.
The Renault's driver kept his head up after McLaren rival Kimi Raikkonen bit a sizeable chunk out of his Formula One lead.
Raikkonen again suffered the heartbreak of retiring while leading.
The Colombian staunchly defended his attempt to steal pole position from team mate Kimi Raikkonen at the German Grand Prix despite ending up in the trackside gravel.
Race stewards, meeting in Paris, awarded the Jordan driver a first career win and demoted McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen to second place following a timing discrepancy.
Championship leader Kimi Raikkonen gave McLaren their third straight win on Sunday.
Formula One World champion Sebastian Vettel ran away with the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday to stretch his overall lead to 46 points with eight races remaining.
Ferrari's world champion Michael Schumacher, winner at Silverstone last year, qualified a disappointing ninth.
All that you wanted to know about the European Grand Prix.
Race leader Kimi Raikkonen crashed out with one lap remaining.
Renault's championship leader Fernando Alonso finished second ahead of Italian Jarno Trulli in a Toyota.
"To say it was a difficult weekend for the team would be somewhat of an understatement," McLaren boss Ron Dennis said.
McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen lapped fastest on Saturday in a wet final practice session for Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Test driver Pedro de la Rosa put McLaren out in front on Friday after the first practice sessions for Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen won a chaotic and crash-halted Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on Sunday with Lewis Hamilton second for Mercedes and retaining the lead in the championship by a single point.
