Pierre Gasly Stuns Monza With First Formula 1 Pole

Pierre Gasly secured the first Formula 1 pole position of his career with a surprise final lap for Alpine in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on Saturday. Formula 1’s official classification recorded Gasly’s best Q3 time at 1 minute 21.786 seconds, enough to beat Mercedes driver George Russell by 0.060 seconds.

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Gasly had shown competitive pace throughout the session rather than emerging only at the finish. The official results list him at 1:22.612 in Q1 and 1:22.077 in Q2 before he improved again in the pole-position shootout. Cadena SER reported that Russell had moved to the top late in Q3, only for Gasly to cross the line with the decisive final effort.

Russell qualified second with a 1:21.846, while Oscar Piastri was third for McLaren on 1:21.966. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton placed fourth and fifth for Ferrari in the published qualifying classification, with Max Verstappen sixth for Red Bull. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was seventh in the second Mercedes.

The result was especially notable for Alpine because both of its cars reached Q3. Franco Colapinto qualified eighth with a 1:22.220, putting the team’s drivers in the top eight on the timing sheet. Lando Norris and Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10, while Gabriel Bortoleto narrowly missed the final segment in 11th.

Further down the order, Carlos Sainz was eliminated in Q2 and classified 15th. Fernando Alonso went out in Q1 and was 21st, one place ahead of Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll. Formula 1’s official table lists all 22 drivers and shows Gasly completing 18 laps across the three qualifying phases.

AS reported that grid penalties affecting several drivers would alter some positions behind the leaders on the provisional starting grid. Those changes did not dislodge Gasly from first place, leaving the Alpine driver set to start Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix from pole. The race is the 13th round of the 2026 season and is scheduled at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.