Lewis Hamilton has insisted that he wants Mercedes team-mate and closest championship rival Nico Rosberg to finish ahead of the Ferraris in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.

The Formula One world championship leader claimed a seventh successive pole position in Saturday's qualifying, while Rosberg will start from fourth behind the Ferrari pairing of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel in their home race.

But Hamilton is still hoping that the man who trails him by 28 points in the drivers' standings will be able to overhaul the two Ferraris in what promises to be a fascinating race at Monza.

"Going into every race you want to get as many points as you can and you're always hoping that there is an opportunity to gain more than the usual," he said.

"But, honestly, I'm hoping that Nico pulls through and we can do a good job and naturally we both want to finish ahead of the Ferraris here. 

"That's always good to do on their home turf, if possible, and also for the championship."

Vettel, meanwhile, who surprisingly lost out to Raikkonen for second place on the grid, admitted that the Ferraris face a real battle to try and get beyond Hamilton and send the local fans home happy.

"We have finished second and third and we are close to Lewis and that will give us confidence for tomorrow," he said.

"I hope we both finish ahead of him; that would be a dream come true. 

"But the Mercedes have serious pace which we have found out many times this year and we will have to fight and do all we can."

Sauber's Marcus Ericsson qualified a creditable 10th, but has been shunted down to 12th due to a three-second penalty for impeding the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg.