Ferrari F1 junior Ilott takes maiden F2 pole in Italy

Callum Ilott claimed his first-ever Formula 2 pole position at Monza for the Sauber Junior team by Charouz in a rain-affected qualifying session.

In a session disrupted by multiple flag periods and changeable conditions, Ilott’s early 1m33.887s proved unbeatable as wet weather hit in the closing stages of qualifying, earning him and his team a first pole.

The Ferrari junior driver is Charouz’s sole entry in Italy this weekend while teammate Juan Manuel Correa recovers from injuries he sustained in a crash that tragically killed Anthoine Hubert at Spa last weekend.

UNI-Virtuosi’s Guanyu Zhou will line-up alongside Ilott on the front-row of the grid for Saturday's feature race having set a time less than a tenth slower than the Briton.

Nikita Mazepin was a fraction further behind in third for ART Grand Prix, with championship leader Nyck de Vries the only driver able to find improvement late in the session as he vaulted up to fourth, ahead of DAMS driver Sergio Sette Camara.

Despite causing a red flag with a spin at the second chicane, Nobuharu Matsushita was able to set a laptime good enough for sixth on the grid, ahead of title contender Nicholas Latifi.

Jordan King took eighth for MP Motorsport, with Prema’s Mick Schumacher and Carlin’s Louis Deletraz completing the top 10.