Monza FR3.5: Stoffel Vandoorne takes pole on debut
McLaren junior driver Stoffel Vandoorne has taken pole position for his Formula Renault 3.5 debut at Monza
The reigning Formula Renault Eurocup champion came out on top in tricky conditions, taking pole shortly before a red flag came out in the closing stages when Lucas Foresti crashed.
With just 1m52s left on the clock the session was not restarted, leaving the Fortec rookie on pole ahead of ISR duo Sergey Sirotkin and Christopher Zanella.
Vandoorne: future McLaren F1 star?
Championship favourite Antonio Felix da Costa salvaged fourth place just before the red flag. The Arden Caterham driver was one of many to gamble on slick tyres in the hope that the damp track would dry, but conditions didn't improve enough.
Before his late effort on wets da Costa was more than 10 seconds off the pace at the back of the field. Another likely title contender, Marco Sorensen, did not make up for starting the session on slicks and will line up 25th.
The third row of the grid is made up of Daniil Move and Nikolay Martsenko, while Kevin Magnussen, who was one of the first drivers to take a second set of wets rather than try slicks, took seventh.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Stoffel Vandoorne Fortec 1:45.416 12 2. Sergey Sirotkin ISR 1:46.393 + 0.977s 13 3. Christopher Zanella ISR 1:47.042 + 1.626s 11 4. Antonio Felix Da Costa Arden Caterham 1:47.051 + 1.635s 12 5. Daniil Move Comtec 1:47.732 + 2.316s 10 6. Nikolay Martsenko Pons Racing 1:47.827 + 2.411s 7 7. Kevin Magnussen DAMS 1:47.872 + 2.456s 11 8. Andre Negrao Draco 1:48.035 + 2.619s 10 9. Will Stevens P1 1:48.048 + 2.632s 11 10. Oliver Webb Fortec 1:48.134 + 2.718s 12 11. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin 1:48.378 + 2.962s 12 12. Nigel Melker Tech 1 1:48.596 + 3.180s 2 13. Lucas Foresti Comtec 1:48.621 + 3.205s 11 14. Norman Nato DAMS 1:48.668 + 3.252s 11 15. Carlos Huertas Carlin 1:48.711 + 3.295s 12 16. Mikhail Aleshin Tech 1 1:48.932 + 3.516s 13 17. Nico Muller Draco 1:49.049 + 3.633s 12 18. Pietro Fantin Arden Caterham 1:49.206 + 3.790s 7 19. Matias Laine P1 1:49.285 + 3.869s 11 20. Zoel Amberg Pons 1:50.899 + 5.483s 10 21. Emmanuel Piget Zeta Corse 1:51.101 + 5.685s 10 22. Arthur Pic AV Formula 1:51.567 + 6.151s 11 23. Mihai Marinescu Zeta Corse 1:54.420 + 9.004s 11 24. Marlon Stockinger Lotus 1:54.823 + 9.407s 11 25. Marco Sorensen Lotus 1:55.589 + 10.173s 11 26. Yann Cunha AV Formula 1:58.694 + 13.278s 11
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