Piquet's British teammate and Drivers' Championship rival, Nigel Mansell, finished second, with Swede Stefan Johansson third in a Ferrari.

During the second qualifying session at Monza, the Benetton-BMW of Gerhard Berger was recorded as being the fastest car along the start-finish straight, with a top speed of 351.22 km/h (218.24 mph).

He was followed by four more BMW-powered cars: teammate Teo Fabi, the Brabhams of Derek Warwick and Riccardo Patrese, and the Arrows of Thierry Boutsen.

[2] Drivers' Championship leader Mansell was third, ahead of Berger, while Brazilian pair Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Renault) and Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) made up the third row.

Berger survived to finish 5th one lap down, while Alan Jones scored the final point in the Haas team's anniversary race having made their F1 debut in Italy in 1985.