Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, in a special yellow tribute livery, claimed a 17th career pole position and his eighth of the season, in front of the Scuderia's home crowd.

The Monegasque driver qualified in front of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz (although the start order tomorrow will be affected by grid penalties).

The weather was warm and dry, with ambient temperatures of 30 degrees centigrade and track temperatures of 41 degrees centigrade during qualifying.

All the drivers used the P Zero Red soft tyre from start to finish of qualifying. Both the Red Bulls and Ferraris used just one set to get through Q1 and Q2. The soft tyres proved well-suited to the qualifying hour in Monza, showing a strong and consistent level of grip.

Gabriel Omar Batistuta, known as the "Angel Gabriel" presented today's Pirelli Pole Position Award. The Argentine footballer, rated as one of the greatest strikers of all time, started his career at home before making a name for himself in Italy, where he played for clubs like Fiorentina, Roma, and Inter Milan, which has enjoyed a long association with Pirelli.

The 53 laps of the Pirelli-sponsored Italian Grand Prix at Monza's "Temple of Speed" should be a one-stop race, thanks to the relatively contained degradation levels expected if the weather remains as forecast, not to mention a comparatively big pit lane time loss.

The best one-stopper on paper involves starting on the soft to make the most of its initial grip, before moving onto the P Zero White Hard, which should provide a consistent and competitive performance in the predicted warm weather conditions. The alternative one-stopper consists of a longer initial stint on the P Zero Yellow Medium before then going on to the hard.

Check out our Saturday gallery from Monza here.