Bianchi leads ART 1-2-3 in qualifying

The Frenchman snatched the top spot from team-mate Valtteri Bottas with six minutes remaining and was able to improve his time further despite having no need to go any faster.

He will be joined on the front row by Esteban Gutierrez, who also jumped ahead of Bottas when the drivers rejoined the track on their second sets of tyres.

Bottas had to settle for third and he will be joined on the second row by Sam Bird. The Briton hadn't featured at the front for most of the session, but put in a strong lap in the final minute to get himself into contention.

Behind them, Mika Maki ended a solid session in fifth place, while Bird's team-mate Alexander Sims also put a late lap in to earn himself a top six starting spot.

Jean-Karl Vernay was another driver to only feature in the closing stages of qualifying and he ended up seventh on the grid, ahead of Bianchi's closest title rival Christian Vietoris.

The German, who is now 19 points behind Bianchi following the ART driver's pole position, had led a 1-2-3 for Mucke Motorsport during free practice, but was unable to match the pace setters in the evening qualifying session as the times improved.

Pos Driver                 Team         Car    Time          Gap
 1. Jules Bianchi          ART          D/M    1m22.823s
 2. Esteban Gutierrez      ART          D/M    1m23.114s  +0.291
 3. Valtteri Bottas        ART          D/M    1m23.262s  +0.439
 4. Sam Bird               Mucke        D/M    1m23.290s  +0.467
 5. Mika Maki              Signature    D/V    1m23.315s  +0.492
 6. Alexander Sims         Mucke        D/M    1m23.342s  +0.519
 7. Jean-Karl Vernay       Signature    D/V    1m23.376s  +0.553
 8. Christian Vietoris     Mucke        D/M    1m23.396s  +0.573
 9. Henkie Waldschmidt     SG           D/M    1m23.479s  +0.656
10. Stefano Coletti        Prema        D/M    1m23.480s  +0.657
11. Marco Wittmann         Mucke        D/M    1m23.494s  +0.671
12. Roberto Merhi          Manor        D/M    1m23.498s  +0.675
13. Christopher Zanella    Motopark     D/M    1m23.561s  +0.738
14. Brendon Hartley        Carlin       D/V    1m23.608s  +0.785
15. Tom Dillmann           HBR          D/M    1m23.675s  +0.852
16. Atte Mustonen          Motopark     D/M    1m23.930s  +1.107
17. Pedro Henrique         Manor        D/M    1m24.078s  +1.255
18. Cesar Ramos            Manor        D/M    1m24.079s  +1.256
19. Tiago Geronimi         Signature    D/V    1m24.090s  +1.267
20. Basil Shaaban          Prema        D/M    1m24.230s  +1.407
21. Jake Rosenzweig        Carlin       D/V    1m24.266s  +1.443
22. Andrea Caldarelli      SG           D/M    1m24.272s  +1.449
23. Johnny Cecotto Jr      HBR          D/M    1m24.290s  +1.467
24. Nick Tandy             Kolles       D/V    1m24.297s  +1.474
25. Johan Jokinen          Kolles       D/V    1m24.543s  +1.720