Pierre Gasly delivered a stunning display at the Italian Grand Prix, earning his inaugural Formula 1 pole position and catching the sport’s usual front‑runners off guard. The Alpine driver, who had just seen his podium finish from the Monaco Grand Prix stripped away for a second time following a court decision, turned the tables at Monza by posting the fastest lap in the decisive Q3 session. Going into the final segment of qualifying, Gasly sat third on the board, deliberately holding back his ultimate lap. When the clock ticked down, he unleashed a blistering final effort, clocking 1:21.786 to eclipse provisional pole‑sitter George Russell by a razor‑thin 0.060 seconds.
The Frenchman’s achievement came in his 190th Grand Prix start, exactly six years after he captured his sole career victory at the same circuit – a win that, like this pole, came under unlikely circumstances while driving for AlphaTauri. The pole marks several milestones. It is the first ever for the Alpine banner in Formula 1 and the first for the Enstone‑based, Renault‑owned outfit since 2009. It also makes Gasly the first French driver to top the grid since Jean‑Alesi’s pole for Benetton at Monza in 1997.
Russell, who had led the session before Gasly’s final run, was left to rue a “messy” start to his final lap, hampered by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen opening the lap. Despite missing out on pole, the Mercedes driver will line up second on the front row. His teammate, championship‑leading Kimi Antonelli, will be relegated to the back of the grid due to an engine‑change penalty, even though he assisted Russell with a tow during qualifying and had originally qualified seventh.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri initially qualified third but incurred a three‑place grid drop for obstructing Red Bull’s Liam Lawson in Q2. Consequently, Piastri will start from sixth, promoting Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to the third and fourth spots, with Verstappen moving into fifth. Both Ferraris will occupy the second row, despite a qualifying session that fell short of the pole‑winning pace the team had hoped for.
Their performance was nevertheless fortunate; Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto missed the top ten by a mere 0.001 seconds, finishing just behind Hamilton in Q2, while Leclerc had been ninth. The provisional top ten after penalties were applied read as follows: 1) Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 2) George Russell (Mercedes) 3) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – three‑place penalty 4) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 5) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 6) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 7) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – engine penalty 8) Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 9) Lando Norris (McLaren) 10) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) Reigning champion Lando Norris, after a string of poles and victories surrounding the summer break, found himself ninth after losing a tow on his final lap when Piastri made an error at the first chicane. He will start eighth thanks to Antonelli’s penalty.
With the championship leader starting from the back, Alpine teammate Franco Colapinto moves up to seventh, Norris to eighth, and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad to ninth, while Bortoleto rounds out the top ten. The backstory to this achievement is dramatic. Earlier in the weekend, the FIA’s International Court of Appeal reinstated the pit‑lane speeding penalties from Monaco, dropping Gasly’s Monaco result from third to seventh for a second time. The Alpine crew could have easily dismissed any chance of a spectacular response, yet they delivered one.
Alpine’s season has improved dramatically compared to 2025, when the team finished at the bottom of the standings. Until Saturday, they had never started a race higher than seventh on the grid. In the final practice session, Gasly was ninth, a half‑second off Russell’s benchmark, but the Mercedes‑powered A526 suddenly became a pole contender in qualifying.
The team appears to have refined the car’s rear‑wing settings for Monza’s high‑speed layout. Gasly topped Q1, then confirmed his pace with a solid fourth‑place finish in Q2, staying ahead of the pole favourite Russell. In the early part of Q3, Russell set the fastest time, but Gasly remained in contention, only 0.072 seconds off the lead. The final run unfolded perfectly for the French driver.
While Piastri ruined his own pole chances by locking up at the first chicane and Russell’s warm‑up lap was compromised, Gasly seized the moment and surged ahead. The Alpine garage erupted in celebration as Gasly shouted over the team radio, “Yessssss! Let’s go.
I’ve been waiting for that one!” In his post‑qualifying interview, Gasly reflected on the significance of the moment: “From the first lap in Q1 I felt very good in the car. I tried to chip away a little bit every single session, and it felt like a very good lap. It’s been nine years trying to chase the opportunity to get a pole. I won my first race in Monza and now I’ve got my first pole at this track.
It’s something special around here.” Russell paid tribute, noting a friendly chess match they had played shortly before qualifying. “Massive congrats to Pierre. That’s an incredible performance,” he said. “We were finishing a game of chess about 15 minutes before qualifying and he beat me there and I thought I’d beat him in qualifying – and here we are, he’s ahead of me again!
Huge congrats to him. I was disappointed not to get pole.
It was a bit messy with Verstappen opening the lap, I did the lap very close, but Pierre and Alpine have been super fast.” The weekend schedule includes an F3 Feature Race at 7:10 am, an F2 Feature Race at 8:40 am, a Porsche Supercup at 10:40 am, and the main Italian Grand Prix race at 2:00 pm, followed by post‑race analysis and commentary. The race will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with streaming available through NOW without a long‑term contract. Overall, Gasly’s pole represents a landmark for both driver and team, showcasing how perseverance, strategic car development, and a bit of luck can overturn expectations on Formula 1’s most historic high‑speed circuit.