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Fernando Alonso clinches pole in Monza

Fernando Alonso isn't letting his team's involvement in an ongoing spy scandal get in the way of his quest to win a third-straight Formula One title.

The McLaren driver stayed focused on his task on Saturday, clinching pole position in qualifying for this weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

"All the races are like finals for me," Alonso said. "I want five wins if I can."

Alonso went round the 5.793km circuit in 1 minute, 21.997 seconds for his second pole position of the season -- on the same day that Italian media reported that he submitted evidence relating to the Ferrari spy scandal to Formula One's governing body.

Alonso's rookie teammate Lewis Hamilton, who leads the Spaniard by five points atop the drivers' standings, was second with 1:22.360, giving McLaren the top two starting spots for the fifth time in 13 races.

"It was a good battle we had going on out there," Hamilton said. "It's the fifth time we have the front row locked out. Hopefully we can repeat that tomorrow ... The result today shows just how hard everyone at McLaren and Mercedes-Benz has been working."

Ferrari's Felipe Massa was third with 1:22.549, followed by BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld with 1:23.174.

Massa's Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who was runner-up at Monza last year, could only manage fifth place with 1:23.183, after crashing in Saturday morning's final practice session.

"We've been quick all weekend," said Alonso, who was also the fastest in practice. "Hopefully we can take that through to the race tomorrow. Hopefully, step by step, from here to the end of the championship, we can be ahead of our opponents."

McLaren and Ferrari are embroiled in a bitter dispute over alleged espionage and attempted sabotage, after technical data about the Italian team's cars turned up in the possession of McLaren's chief designer.

The dispute ignited in July when a 780-page technical dossier on Ferrari cars was found at the home of McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan. Coughlan was later suspended, while Ferrari mechanic Nigel Stepney, who allegedly supplied the documents, was fired.

Italian news daily La Repubblica said on Saturday that Alonso had submitted evidence related to the case to the FIA, following its request for cooperation.
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