Gasly secures first Formula 1 pole at Monza, edging Russell
Pierre Gasly claimed his maiden pole position for Alpine at the Italian Grand Prix, beating George Russell by 0.060 seconds in a tightly contested qualifying session.
Pierre Gasly delivered Alpine its first pole of the season at the Italian Grand Prix, posting a lap of 1:21.786 to finish 0.060 seconds ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell. The French driver moved past Russell by using a slipstream from Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in the final Q3 run, while Russell had benefited earlier from a tow provided by teammate Kimi Antonelli before the Italian’s engine penalty dropped him to the back of the grid.
Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc completed the top five, followed by Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Antonelli’s penalty promoted Franco Colapinto to seventh on the starting grid. Lando Norris, who could not secure a slipstream from Piastri after the latter went off at Turn 1, qualified ninth.
In Q2, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton struggled with traffic, ending the session in the drop zone before improving his time by a tenth of a second on the final attempt. Charles Leclerc also failed to advance, leaving both Ferraris outside the top ten. Gabriel Bortoleto of Audi edged out by 0.001 seconds, while Haas rookie Oliver Bearman took 12th after an upgrade.
The session saw several penalties and investigations, including an engine penalty for Antonelli and a potential blocking inquiry for Piastri. Liam Lawson, substituting for the injured Isack Hadjar, qualified 14th and will start from the back due to a penalty.
Other notable qualifiers included Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon, who were eliminated after Q2, and Yuki Tsunoda, who failed to set a clean lap and finished 17th.
The qualifying results set a tightly packed front row, with the top ten separated by less than two tenths of a second, underscoring the importance of optimal track position and slipstreaming at Monza.