Gasly stuns with first career F1 pole at Monza

Pierre Gasly sensationally pipped George Russell to take his maiden Formula 1 pole position at the Italian Grand Prix.

Gasly, who claimed his first and only grand prix victory in Monza in 2020, led Q1 and was fourth fastest in Q2 but never appeared likely to take pole in his midfield Alpine car. A superb first lap in Q3, however, had him third and just 0.072s off Russell’s provisional pole, putting him within striking distance of a giant-killing result.

Slipstreaming was key to the final laps, and the Frenchman was the penultimate driver out of the pit lane, slotting behind the Ferrari drivers.

Russell, four cars ahead, was also counting on the tow, first from teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli and then from a well-positioned Max Verstappen ahead. The Englishman, though, ended up too close behind Verstappen once Antonelli bailed out of his lap, and though he improved his time, it wasn’t by enough to clear the field.

Instead it was Gasly, who was positioned to get a double slipstream behind Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who pieced together the perfect lap of 1m21.786s, pipping Russell by 0.06s.

Gasly’s first pole position comes in his 10th season in Formula 1, in which time he had never qualified higher than fourth or started higher than second.

“It was amazing,” he said. “It was an incredible quali. From the first lap in Q1 I felt very good in the car. I was trying to chip a little bit away every single session, then in the end it felt like a very good lap.

“I’m so happy. It’s been nine years trying to chase and get the opportunity to get a pole position. I won my first race in Monza, I got my first pole position on this track – I think it’s something special around here.”

The result was also Alpine’s first pole in 17 years, dating back to Fernando Alonso’s pole at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix in the team’s Renault guise.

Russell complained of “front locking and instability in high speed” during Q3 but lamented bad positioning out of pit lane likely cost him pole position.

“It was a bit messy with Verstappen opening the lap,” he said. “I did the lap very close [to him]. But Pierre and Alpine have been super fast, even from Q1. I’m happy to see them get a good result.”

Oscar Piastri was an unlikely third and only 0.18s off pole in his unfancied McLaren despite throwing away his final lap to a lock-up at the first chicane.

“I knew it was always going to be difficult, and I just misjudged the braking a little bit,” he said. “But good to have a decent result, at least. It’s been a little while, so I’ll take it.”

It’s Piastri’s equal best qualifying result of the year, but the Australian is under threat of a grid drop for impeding Liam Lawson in Q2, for which he will see the stewards after the session.

Ferrari disappointed, with Charles Leclerc 0.218s off the pace in fourth and Lewis Hamilton a further 0.007s adrift in fifth, neither looking genuinely in pole contention throughout – and both coming within 0.008s of being knocked out in Q2.

Verstappen qualified sixth ahead of Antonelli, who will start at the back of the grid with an engine change penalty.

Franco Colapinto qualified eighth in the second Alpine ahead of Lando Norris and Arvid Lindblad.

Gabriel Bortoleto came within 0.001s of sensationally knocking Hamilton out of Q2, leaving him 11th in the classification.

Oliver Bearman, with an upgraded Ferrari engine in his Haas, was another 0.2s adrift in 12th, splitting Bortoleto from his Audi teammate Nico Hulkenberg in 13th.

Lawson was a furious 14th after Red Bull Racing attempted to deploy Verstappen to slipstream him into Q3, where the team planned to have the Kiwi tow the Dutchman into pole contention. Instead bad traffic, including a slow-moving Piastri on the racing line into the first chicane, meant Lawson got no real slipstream benefit, leaving him out in Q2 – though he will start on the back row with an engine change penalty.

Carlos Sainz qualified 14th for Williams, more than 1.5s off the pace and more than 0.6s off the rest of the midfield, with only Esteban Ocon behind him to complete Q2.

Yuki Tsunoda missed out on a shot at Q2 by 0.139s, continuing his tough run from FP3. The Japanese driver also wasn’t helped by a fuel leak at the beginning of the session, restricting him to only two timed laps when most other drivers around him completed three.

Alex Albon, carrying a back-of-grid engine change penalty, slipstreamed teammate Sainz to Q2 but couldn’t secure himself a place in the top 16, qualifying 18th.

Valtteri Bottas outqualified Cadillac teammate Sergio Perez in 19th and 20th, 1.752s and 1.983s off the pace respectively.

Aston Martin ignominiously qualified last for the seventh time in 13 grands prix.

Fernando Alonso qualified 21st but was 2.538s off the pace – and 0.555s off the Cadillac drivers – while Lance Stroll, who was knocked out in Q1 for the 100th time in his career, was another 0.072s adrift.

RESULTS