Podium sole aim for Esteban Ocon after career-best qualifying at Monza

The wet weather conditions coupled with penalties to few faster cars, handed Force India's Esteban Ocon his best starting position in his young Formula 1 career.

The Frenchman beat his previous best of seventh in Baku and Silverstone, with a fifth place finish in Monza - which improved to a third place, after penalties to Red Bull Racing drivers.

After a delayed start to the qualifying session in the treacherous conditions, Ocon sailed into Q3 beating teammate Sergio Perez by 0.002s.

In the final part, the Mercedes junior put on an impressive show by clocking in fast lap times, ahead of the Ferrari duo and also one of the Mercedes.

Now starting in the second row, behind Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Williams' Lance Stroll, the GP3 champion has only one goal for the Sunday's race - to finish on the podium.

"We knew that there was an opportunity to take in this qualifying session," said a beaming Ocon after the day. "I have been growing up in the rain and it’s fantastic to see that on a Formula 1 car, you can still manage to do the good stuff.

"It’s what the team deserve after all the hardwork. They have put so much effort to get these [kind of] results and now we start third, there is a big thing to get tomorrow, which is a podium and we will keep pushing.

"It was a great car to drive, really nice balance and I’ll go and give them a big hug now. [But] we will need to fight hard tomorrow because there are quick cars all around us."

Meanwhile, Perez lamented his fast lap in Q2, which he feels wasn't a 'perfect' one - since he went wide at Ascari, compromising his finish.

However, it was a tricky situation in the session. Had Perez improved on his lap time, he would have bumped his teammate out, after a late improvement from McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne, who had demoted Perez to 11th, with Ocon in 10th.

"I think Charlie [Whiting] did the right thing by postponing the session. The conditions were changing all the time and it was very important to be on the right tyres at the right moment," reflected Perez.

"In Q2, we took the decision to change from wets to inters and I only had two laps to try and make it happen. In the end, I missed out by two thousandths: it’s not ideal, but it was the best we could do today.

"It was not a perfect lap – I went a bit too wide at Ascari and I got very close to Ricciardo ahead of me, and that compromised me a little. These small margins were enough to miss out on the top ten.

"We’ll be moving up on the grid with a few penalties and I hope to make up some more positions tomorrow," added the Mexican, who is set to start from ninth after penalties to the Red Bull Racing drivers.

While Force India has a reason to celebrate, but its competitors Williams also had a good qualifying with Stroll in second and Felipe Massa in seventh.

Looking at Friday's practice, the Grove-based team had a solid long run pace - almost matching Force India's time, which will mean a feisty battle on track on Sunday.

The weather, however, will play a key part on Sunday, with the current forecast showing a bright sunny day - which will bring in the Ferraris and Valtteri Bottas in the mix.

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