Jolyon Palmer finished P15 during today's (Friday) closely fought GP2 qualifying session at Monza, which saw the top 19 drivers within a second.

The sun continued to shine as the 30-minute session got underway with Jolyon, on the softer tyres, opting to go out straight away and take advantage of the rubber laid down by the previous F1 practice. The 21-year-old began brightly, running in the top 10 on his first flying lap before pitting around the halfway mark.

Ten minutes remained on the clock as Jolyon set off on his second run with the Brit lying P13. He continued to push in the closing stages with time for one final lap but was forced to back out following a spin by Max Chilton at the Parabolica, bringing out the yellow flags and leaving Jolyon a frustrating P15.

Speaking afterwards Jolyon said: "I thought I did a good lap but for some reason the pace wasn't there. We are looking into reasons now to try and find some improvements for tomorrow. Hopefully we can find something and finish top eight."

At the front, Carlin's Max Chilton secured pole with Giedo Van Der Garde in second and Luca Filippi in third after Johnny Cecotto's five-place gird penalty is applied.

Tomorrow's Feature Race gets underway at 15:40 (local time) with full coverage on Jolyon's official website.

GP2 Monza, qualifying results:

1. M Chilton, Carlin, 1:31.886s
2. G VD Garde, Caterham, +0.067s
3. J Cecotto, Addax, +0.265s*
4. Luca Filippi, Scuderia, +0.279s
5. D Valsecchi, DAMS, +0.322s
6. M Ericsson, iSport, +0.330s
7. F Leimer, Racing, +0.438s
8. F Onidi, Scuderia, +0.502s
9. E Gutierrez, Lotus GP, +0.510s
15. J Palmer, iSport, +0.773s

* 5 place grid-penalty