Pierre Gasly delivered a stunning performance at the Italian Grand Prix, earning his inaugural Formula 1 pole position and sending shockwaves through the Alpine team and the broader paddock. The French driver, who had just seen his podium finish from the Monaco Grand Prix stripped away by a court decision, turned the tables at Monza by out‑qualifying the usual front‑running contenders in a dramatic final session.
Entering the last segment of qualifying, Q3, Gasly was sitting in third place on the leaderboard. Rather than chasing the top time immediately, he conserved his best tyre set for a final flying lap, a strategy that paid off handsomely. While provisional pole‑sitter George Russell of Mercedes set a blistering lap, Gasly responded with a flawless circuit of the high‑speed layout, posting a best time of 1:21.786. That effort edged out Russell by a razor‑thin 0.060 seconds and secured the coveted pole slot for the Frenchman.
The achievement is especially significant for several reasons. It marks Gasly’s first pole after 190 Grand Prix starts, arriving six years after his lone career victory, which also came at Monza under similarly unexpected circumstances while he was driving for AlphaTauri. Moreover, it represents Alpine’s first pole position in its history and the first for the Enstone‑based team owned by Renault since 2009. Russell, who had a "messy" start to his final lap due to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen occupying the racing line, was left to rue the missed opportunity.
Nevertheless, the Briton will line up alongside Gasly on the front row, while his teammate Kimi Antonelli will start from the back of the grid after receiving engine‑change penalties. Antonelli, who had helped Russell with a tow during the session, qualified seventh but was already aware that the penalty would drop him to the rear regardless of his on‑track performance. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri originally qualified third but incurred a three‑place grid drop for blocking Red Bull’s Liam Lawson in Q2. As a result, Piastri will start sixth, promoting Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to the third and fourth slots respectively, with Verstappen moving into fifth.
Both Ferraris will occupy the second row despite a qualifying run that fell short of the pole‑winning pace they had shown earlier in the season. Their advancement was aided by a narrow margin in Q2, where Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto finished just 0.001 seconds behind Hamilton, and Leclerc was positioned ninth.
The provisional top ten after penalties were applied looked as follows: 1) Pierre Gasly (Alpine), 2) George Russell (Mercedes), 3) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – with a three‑place penalty, 4) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 5) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), 6) Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 7) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – back‑of‑grid penalty, 8) Franco Colapinto (Alpine), 9) Lando Norris (McLaren), 10) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls). The list also noted that Bortoleto would occupy the tenth spot.
Lando Norris, the reigning champion who had collected consecutive poles and wins before the summer hiatus, qualified only ninth. A mishap on his final lap—where a mistake by Piastri at the first chicane removed the tow he had been receiving—cost him a higher grid position, though he will still start eighth after Antonelli’s penalty reshuffles the order.
The emotional backdrop to Alpine’s success cannot be overlooked. Earlier in the weekend, the FIA’s International Court of Appeal reinstated a pit‑lane speeding penalty from the Monaco race, demoting Gasly’s result from third to seventh—a decision that had initially dampened the team’s morale. Yet, the Frenchman and his crew turned that disappointment into motivation, producing a pole‑winning performance that seemed almost improbable given their recent history. Alpine’s resurgence this season is starkly different from their 2025 campaign, when they finished at the bottom of the constructors’ standings and never started a race higher than seventh on the grid.
In the final practice session at Monza, Gasly was ninth fastest, a full 0.6 seconds off Russell’s benchmark. However, the team’s engineers appear to have found a sweet spot by lowering the rear‑wing angle, a change that dramatically increased downforce on the sport’s fastest circuit. The result was a car that was not only competitive but outright pole‑capable in the hands of Gasly.
The qualifying narrative unfolded with Gasly leading the way in Q1, then confirming his pace with a fourth‑place finish in Q2, staying ahead of the pole favourite Russell. In Q3, Russell initially set the fastest time, but Gasly lingered close behind, only 0.072 seconds off the lead. The final run saw Piastri lock up at the first chicane, compromising his attempt, while Russell’s warm‑up lap was disrupted.
Seizing the moment, Gasly delivered a flawless lap that vaulted him into first place. The Alpine garage erupted in celebration as soon as the timing screens confirmed the result. Gasly could be heard exulting over the team radio, "Yessssss! Let's go.
I've been waiting for that one!" In his post‑qualifying interview, he reflected on the long‑awaited achievement: "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 got my first pole at this track.
It's something special around here." Russell, ever the sportsman, paid tribute to his rival, noting a light‑hearted anecdote about a chess game 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 went 'well, I think I will beat you in qualifying' and here we are, he's ahead of me again!" Gasly’s pole also carries historical weight: he becomes the first French driver to claim a Formula 1 pole since Jean Alesi’s Benetton pole at Monza in 1997, linking his success to the heritage of the Alpine brand, which traces its roots back to the Alesi‑era team. The weekend schedule continues with support races: the F3 Feature Race at 7:10 am, the F2 Feature Race at 8:40 am, followed by the Porsche Supercup at 10:40 am. The Italian Grand Prix itself will start at 2:00 pm on Sky Sports F1, with live coverage available via NOW streaming without a long‑term contract.
Fans can also catch post‑race analysis, including the Chequered Flag reaction at 4:00 pm and Ted’s Notebook at 5:00 pm. Overall, Gasly’s pole position not only reshapes the starting grid for Sunday’s race but also signals Alpine’s growing competitiveness and the unpredictable nature of Formula 1, where perseverance, strategic tyre management, and a bit of luck can turn a season‑long underdog into a front‑row contender.