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Qualifying report

GP3 qualifying cancelled due to rain

Honda protege Nirei Fukuzumi claimed his first GP3 pole position by default as rain washed out qualifying at Monza.

 Fans take cover from the rain under umbrellas in the grandstand

Fans take cover from the rain under umbrellas in the grandstand

Andrew Hone / Motorsport Images

Fukuzumi will start the feature race later today from first place as a result of setting the fastest time in Friday's practice session ahead of his three ART Grand Prix teammates.

The 30-minute qualifying session that had been due to take place on Saturday morning was delayed by torrential rain soaking the northern Italian track shortly before the start, and was eventually cancelled when conditions did not improve.

Championship leader, and Mercedes F1 junior George Russell, who claimed a win and second place in addition to pole and two fastest laps last time out at Spa, will line up second as he finished practice 0.099-seconds behind Fukuzumi.

Russell’s closest championship rival Jack Aitken – a Renault F1 Academy member – will line up fourth on the race one grid, behind Anthoine Hubert.

Dorian Boccolacci finished practice in fifth place for the Trident team at its home track, ahead of Arden International duo Steijn Schothorst and Leonardo Pulcini.

Barcelona race two winner, and Haas F1 junior driver, Arjun Maini will start from eighth on the grid, one place in front of his Jenzer Motorsport teammate Alessio Lorandi.

Red Bull junior Daniel Ticktum, who is making his GP3 debut at Monza this weekend, rounded out the top 10 and was the fastest DAMS driver in practice.

Ferrari’s GP3 junior Giuliano Alesi had targeted an improved qualifying performance in his Trident-run car after winning the last three reverse grid races at Silverstone, the Hungaroring and Spa.

But the washout meant he was not given the chance to start towards the sharp end of the race one grid, and he will line up 13th after finishing down the field in practice.

Niko Kari – who recently confirmed that he will leave the Red Bull junior team at the end of the 2017 season – was just behind Alesi in 14th place after Friday’s 45-minute practice session.

Sauber F1 junior and DAMS driver Tatiana Calderon will start race one from 19th, one spot in front of Kevin Jorg, who brought up the rear of the field in practice.

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