The Honda Formula 1 junior driver claimed his first on-track pole in the third-tier category – he was handed the top grid spot after qualifying was washed-out at Monza – by jumping to the top of the times in the dying moments of qualifying.

Red Bull-backed British driver Dan Ticktum finished fourth, ahead of the final ART driver, Anthoine Hubert.

The ART squad left the pits with the rest of the pack at the beginning of the 30-minute session but all four drivers quickly came back in.

Dorian Boccolacci and Giuliano Alesi therefore topped the times during the early running, with the former surviving a brush with the barriers on the outside of the right-hand Turn 10 at the bottom of the circuit, after bumping over the kerbs at the exit of the previous corner.

Another driver to take a trip through the gravel during the opening exchanges was DAMS driver Bruno Baptista, who swept around the outside of the long Turn 4 left-hander.

Ticktum, who is making just his second GP3 appearance after making his debut last time out at Monza, briefly held the lead before the ART drivers vaulted to the head of the pack.

Renault F1 academy member Aitken put in a time of 1m31.249s that left him just under 0.1s ahead of Russell and Hubert as the pack came in to make last-minute adjustments ahead of the final efforts.

When the action resumed, championship leader Russell – a Mercedes F1 junior – stole the top spot from Aitken, his nearest challenger in the standings.

But when Russell didn’t improve on his final lap, Aitken briefly reclaimed first place only to be usurped by Fukuzumi seconds later.

The Japanese driver put in a best time of 1m30.678s to end up 0.169s and 0.211s in front of his teammates.

Ticktum, recently announced as one of the 2017 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award nominees, wound up 0.353s behind Fukuzumi, but ahead of Hubert.

Alessio Lorandi qualified sixth for Jenzer Motorsport, just in front of Boccolacci, Arden International’s Niko Kari and Tatiana Calderon (DAMS).

Steijn Schothorst rounded out the top 10 for Arden, ahead of Alesi and his Trident teammates Kevin Jorg and Ryan Tveter.

Qualifying results:

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	Nirei Fukuzumi	ART Grand Prix	1'30.678
2	Jack Aitken	ART Grand Prix	1'30.847	0.169
3	George Russell	ART Grand Prix	1'30.889	0.211
4	Dan Ticktum	DAMS	1'31.031	0.353
5	Anthoine Hubert	ART Grand Prix	1'31.140	0.462
6	Alessio Lorandi	Jenzer Motorsport	1'31.334	0.656
7	Dorian Boccolacci	Trident	1'31.389	0.711
8	Niko Kari	Arden International	1'31.404	0.726
9	Tatiana Calderon	DAMS	1'31.478	0.800
10	Steijn Schothorst	Arden International	1'31.507	0.829
11	Giuliano Alesi	Trident	1'31.593	0.915
12	Kevin Jörg	Trident	1'31.661	0.983
13	Ryan Tveter	Trident	1'31.689	1.011
14	Julien Falchero	Campos Racing	1'31.707	1.029
15	Marcos Siebert	Campos Racing	1'31.707	1.029
16	Leonardo Pulcini	Arden International	1'31.726	1.048
17	Raoul Hyman	Campos Racing	1'31.984	1.306
18	Juan Manuel Correa	Jenzer Motorsport	1'32.019	1.341
19	Arjun Maini	Jenzer Motorsport	1'32.139	1.461
20	Bruno Baptista	DAMS	1'32.161	1.483