Giancarlo Fisichella gave Force India an astonishing first pole position on Saturday while Formula One championship leader Jenson Button qualified 14th for the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Force India team have yet to score a point in 29 races while the 36-year-old Italian last started on pole with Renault in Malaysia in 2006.
"It's amazing. It's fantastic. I'm so happy about that ... I didn't expect that result," said Fisichella who will have the second lightest car on the grid.
Toyota's Jarno Trulli made it the first all-Italian front row since Australia in 2005, with Germany's Nick Heidfeld third for struggling BMW-Sauber.
Brawn GP's Button failed to make it into the top 10 for the first time this season and will have a fight on his hands to come away with any points
Team mate and closest title rival Rubens Barrichello, who is 18 points adrift with six races remaining after winning the previous race in Valencia last weekend, qualified fourth with the lightest car.
Red Bull's Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, third and fourth in the standings respectively, filled the ninth and eighth places on the grid.
Italian Luca Badoer's days as stand-in for injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa look numbered after the 38-year-old spun into the gravel and qualified last for the second race in a row.
Team mate Kimi Raikkonen starts sixth.
