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.

He says "I just drove like an idiot. 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.

It is his worst qualifying session this season and his lowest position on the grid since last year's Spanish Grand Prix.

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.