Gasly stuns field to claim shock Monza pole position
Alpine's Pierre Gasly produced a surprise pole position at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, edging out Mercedes' George Russell. He became the first Frenchman to take pole at the track since 1997.
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly delivered a surprise result on Saturday, taking pole position for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The Frenchman beat Mercedes driver George Russell by just 0.060 seconds in qualifying.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri finished third, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton took fourth and fifth despite the team's upgraded engine. Red Bull's Max Verstappen was sixth, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes set the seventh-fastest time but will start from the back of the grid due to a penalty for using a new engine. McLaren's Lando Norris ended up only ninth after a difficult session.
Gasly's pole comes a day after he was stripped of his third-place finish from the Monaco Grand Prix, after the FIA Court of Appeal reinstated a penalty originally given to him at that June race. With Saturday's result, Gasly became the first Frenchman to take pole position at Monza since Jean Alesi in 1997.
Russell said afterwards that he had started his final lap too close behind Verstappen, who let Antonelli through before the lap began in order to avoid running in clean air, which affected his own performance.
Alpine introduced a major upgrade package at the previous race in the Netherlands, where Gasly could only qualify 11th. The 30-year-old said the result exceeded the team's expectations and that it had taken him nine years to achieve his first pole position.
Ferrari, seen as a strong contender heading into qualifying, underperformed in the session. Hamilton advanced into the final part of qualifying by just 0.001 seconds ahead of Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto.
