Monza GP3: Charles Leclerc denies Arden duo with last-gasp pole lap

Fresh from his maiden victory at Spa-Francorchamps last Sunday, Jack Aitken held top spot when the session was halted with three minutes remaining to recover the stranded car of Giuliano Alesi.

Aitken had been working in tandem with Arden team-mate Jake Dennis during the session, with the British pair providing each other with a slipstream.

Dennis looked like he could have lost out from this strategy when he was left down in seventh when the red flags came out just after he had provided Aitken with a tow, but in the single flying laps after the restart he was able to move to the top, 0.017 seconds faster than Aitken.

But ART Grand Prix driver Leclerc was even faster behind him on track, and bettered Dennis' benchmark by 0.166s to claim pole and four bonus points.

Title contender Alexander Albon enjoyed a better session than at Spa one week ago to take fourth, while Jake Hughes climbed to fifth with his final effort but will take a three-place grid penalty for contact at Spa.

That will promote his DAMS team-mate Kevin Jorg as well as ART's Nirei Fukuzumi and Trident's Antonio Fuoco, the closest man in the standings to fellow Ferrari junior Leclerc.

After leading early on, Nyck de Vries ended up ninth while the returning Ralph Boschung grabbed 10th, but carries a grid penalty over from his last appearance at Hockenheim.

The perceived benefit of a slipstream meant some drivers chose to fight over the same piece of track, and this led to contact between Arjun Maini and Artur Janosz on the run to the Parabolica that sent the Indian's car up into the air and removed the front wing.

Jorg also damaged the front of his car in a separate incident, but DAMS was able to make repairs in time for him to return to the track and improve his time.

QUALIFYING TIMES