Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are being trusted to keep it clean in the opening stages of today's potentially explosive Italian Grand Prix.

Just a fortnight after the high drama and controversy at Spa where Rosberg collided with Hamilton after opting not to avoid taking evasive action on lap two, so wrecking the Briton's race, the duo line up on the front row at Monza.

In claiming pole position for the first time in eight races, it was the moment Hamilton has been waiting for since his last top-of-the-grid slot in Spain in May. The intervening qualifying sessions have not been kind to Hamilton as he has endured a catalogue of issues, whilst Rosberg has claimed six poles in seven races.

With a 29-point gap to reel in, Hamilton simply described the 36th pole of his Formula One career as "a very small step on a huge staircase I have to climb".

Another step will be ensuring the duo avoid any further contact today, in particular heading into the notorious first chicane - the Variante del Rettifilo.

Hamilton and Rosberg have been warned, following a meeting at the team's headquarters in Brackley after their collision, that further incidents such as those at Spa will not be tolerated, with their futures within the team seemingly on the line.

Underlining that point, Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff said: "On Sunday morning there is a strategy meeting. I guess we'll have the discussion like always, and one of the points will be what will happen on the first couple of laps. It is very clear where the line is, so it should be pretty obvious and pretty clear about what is going to happen tomorrow, and I have no doubt this is how the race is going to pan out."

Wolff has confirmed he seriously considered imposing team orders on both drivers in light of what unfolded at Spa. "The closest I came was a minute-and-half after the race ended, but that emotion subsided as the week went on," added Wolff. "We decided to go for the philosophy we declared at the beginning of the year - to let them race. They are two equal drivers and we want to give them both a fair chance of going for the championship."

As far as Hamilton is concerned, he has again reiterated he will be sticking to his guns should he and Rosberg be wheel to wheel at any point in the race.

"I want to be ahead, so nothing changes for me," said Hamilton. "I'll do what I do all the time. I've been racing for many, many years and I've not collided with too many people, so I'll continue to race the way I do. I just want to win the right way, and that's what I'll try and do."

As for Rosberg, the German said: "How do we race? As we have all season. The instructions have been very clear from the word go, and it continues like that. There is no change. As before we have to be careful."

Given the deficit to Rosberg, Hamilton knows he has to convert pole into a race win, something he has not enjoyed since winning at Silverstone in July.

"You always say every race is important, but time's running out," said Hamilton. "The only thing I can do is to chip away at it [the gap] very slowly, and tomorrow would be good if that was the first step."