Mercedes-backed George Russell snatched pole position for Saturday's Formula 2 feature race at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit, beating Sergio Sette Camara by just 0.054s.
The session was dry following Friday's early morning rain, allowing for the use of Pirelli's supersoft tyre, which Russell put to good use to record a best time of 1:31.546.
The ART racer and championship leader extended his points lead over Lando Norris to nine points thanks to the additional four points awarded for pole, whilst the McLaren-backed Britain starts down in seventh.
DAMS' Alexander Albon crossed the finish line to post a time of 1:31.889 to go third, 0.343s adrift of Russell. Artem Markelov completes the second row.
Nicholas Latifi ensured both DAMS drivers were in the top five as he beat Charouz's Antonio Fuoco, who qualified sixth but will serve a three-place grid drop on Saturday, putting him ninth and promoting Norris, Arjun Maini and Luca Ghiotto.
Fucco's team-mate Louis Deletraz completed the top ten.
