Charles Leclerc will start the Italian Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday afternoon, ahead of a very mixed up grid at Monza.

The Monegasque has seen his title hopes as good as dashed since what had been a positive start to the campaign with Red Bull and Max Verstappen streaking away, but he can still look to try and set up a strong final flourish to the season with a victory on Ferrari soil, before the flyaways begin again next month.

Indeed, he's got the perfect opportunity to do so with him starting from P1, ahead of a grid that has taken quite a long time to work out given the number of grid penalties in play.

VIDEO: F1 DRIVERS WITH THE MOST WINS 1950-2021

Nine drivers have received some kind of drop down the grid with Verstappen and Esteban Ocon moving back five, Sergio Perez dropping back ten, Valtteri Bottas, Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen moving back 15 and Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda given 'back of the grid' penalties.

Certainly, it made for quite the guessing game initially after the chequered flag in Q3 as to who was starting where, with even some of the drivers unsure as to where they'd line up.

The grid for Sunday's race is as follows, though:

One of the other impressive stories of the day involved Nyck de Vries.

The Dutch driver competed in FP1 for Aston Martin on Friday but that should have been the end of his action for Monza.

However, Alex Albon was diagnosed with appendicitis on Saturday morning and, with him being treated - and seemingly in good spirits about it all - De Vries took the reins of the Williams and quickly delivered.

Indeed, he'd go faster than Nicholas Latifi in the other Williams, which is obviously a big statement, and he'd even put the car in Q2, whilst the penalties mean he has a genuine chance of points tomorrow, though it's likely he's going to spend much of his first-ever Formula 1 Grand Prix fighting off a host of cars in behind him.

He won't mind that, though, as he looks to stake a claim for a 2023 seat, potentially in the Williams itself, tomorrow.

Leclerc is the one that might be looking forward to lights out most of all on Sunday, however, with another Ferrari victory at Monza for him in the offing if all goes to plan.

With the way this season has unfolded, though, he won't be holding his breath.