Extraordinary scenes at Monza as Pierre Gasly takes pole! 🤯#F1 #ItalianGP @AlpineF1Team pic.twitter.com/0iFd76Kb8T
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 5, 2026
NEWS
Six years after maiden win: Gasly ahead in Monza Quali
Just at the place where Pierre Gasly celebrated his maiden victory in 2020, the Alpine driver starts the race from pole position.
It is the big surprise of Monza qualifying.
Right at the "Temple of Speed", where Pierre Gasly celebrated his first and so far only victory in 2020 with AlphaTauri, the Alpine driver secures his maiden pole.
"This is incredible! I like this track," the Frenchman radioed happily to his box after the session ended. George Russell was almost speechless in the subsequent interview: "Wow," marveled the Mercedes driver, who narrowly missed P1 (+0.060).
The Briton entered qualifying as a big favorite. Teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who finishes seventh, will start only from the last row due to an engine change.
Gasly already strong in Q1 and Q2
Gasly's pole position, however, does not come out of nowhere: The 30-year-old was already ahead in Q1 and finished fourth in the second segment.
Yet the weekend in Italy didn't even start well for him: On Friday, the Frenchman lost his Monaco podium in the stewards' room (all info >>>).
Ultimately, qualifying went disappointingly for Lando Norris. The McLaren driver, who won both races in Budapest and Zandvoort, finishes only ninth (+0.470).
Oscar Piastri (+0.180), who starts the race from third on Sunday, braked too late in turn one on his last attempt and thus could not give his teammate a slipstream.
Hamilton narrowly avoids Q2 embarrassment
The two Ferraris also fell somewhat short of expectations at their home Grand Prix: After good results in free practice, Charles Leclerc (+0.218) and Lewis Hamilton (+0.225) finish only fourth and fifth.
The Scuderia drivers can consider themselves lucky to have even made it into Q3. Hamilton was only one thousandth of a second faster than Gabriel Bortoleto in the second segment. Leclerc himself was only 0.007 seconds faster than his teammate.
Last year's winner Max Verstappen will tackle the race from sixth place (+0.284). Qualifying, however, was disappointing for the second Red Bull driver: Liam Lawson, who is also replacing the injured Isack Hadjar in Monza, finishes only 14th.
