Leclerc on pole position in Monza

Charles Leclerc will start the Italian Grand Prix from pole position after setting the pace in qualifying at Monza.

The Ferrari driver beat Max Verstappen, but will have George Russell alongside him on the front row tomorrow, with a number of the front runners carrying engine penalties.

Nine drivers headed into the session knowing they’d be starting further back than their qualifying position due to engine penalties, resulting in a mixed-up grid for tomorrow’s race.

Nyck De Vries found himself unexpectedly taking part in qualifying after Alex Albon was diagnosed with appendicitis this morning. The Dutchman made an impact on his debut, getting into Q2 and outqualifying his teammate.

Kevin Magnussen couldn’t make it out of Q1 after twice having his fastest lap deleted for exceeding track limits, while Nicholas Latifi complained of his Williams behaving oddly, costing him time in the first part of the session.

Previous Monza winners Pierre Gasly and Daniel Ricciardo both made it into Q3 after difficulties in qualifying recently, and with neither carrying penalties, they’ll start well up the order tomorrow.

Provisional qualifying result:

1 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)*

3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)****

4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)**

5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)****

6. George Russell (Mercedes)

7. Lando Norris (McLaren)

8. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)

9. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)

10. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)

11. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)*

12. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)***

13. Nyck De Vries (Williams)

14. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)

15. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)****

16. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)

17. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)

18. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

19. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)***

20. Mick Schumacher (Haas)***

*Verstappen and Ocon have 5-second grid penalties

**Perez has a 10-place grid penalty

***Bottas, Schumacher and Magnussen have 15-place grid penalties

**** Tsunoda, Hamilton and Sainz will start from the back of the grid