Pierre Gasly Claims Historic Pole Position at Monza
Pierre Gasly tore Monza wide open.
On a circuit built for legends and slipstreams, the Frenchman delivered the lap of his life to claim a stunning pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, beating George Russell by less than a tenth of a second at the Temple of Speed.
For Gasly, it is a career first. For France, a drought ends that stretches all the way back to 1997, when Jean Alesi stuck a Benetton on pole at this very track. For Alpine, it is the first pole since the team shed the Renault name five years ago. One lap, three milestones.
Russell, who had looked a constant threat through practice, had to settle for second as Gasly pieced together a final run that clung to the limit of Monza’s old tarmac and fresh kerbs. Oscar Piastri slotted into third, the Australian again showing his raw speed in qualifying trim, ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who completed a top five packed with storylines.
Ferrari ride their luck
Ferrari’s red cars survived Q2 by the width of a coat of paint.
Leclerc, the tifosi’s great hope for Sunday, was just eight thousandths of a second quicker than Gabriel Bortoleto, who missed the cut in 11th. Hamilton’s margin was even more brutal: a single millisecond away from an early exit. On another day, both might have been watching the final phase from the garage.
The narrow escape underlined how unforgiving Monza can be. One missed apex, one poor exit, and a lap – or a qualifying session – simply vanishes.
Tsunoda halted, Lawson blocked
At the other end of the grid, Yuki Tsunoda’s return to F1 hit turbulence.
On only his second weekend back, drafted in as part of the knock-on reshuffle caused by Isack Hadjar’s wrist injury, Tsunoda saw his Q1 hopes wrecked by a fuel leak on his Racing Bulls car. The interruption shredded his rhythm and left him with too much to do. The result: a Q1 exit and a long Sunday ahead.
Liam Lawson, standing in for Red Bull, fared little better in terms of fortune. The New Zealander ran into traffic on his final Q2 attempt, scuppering what might have been a shot at the top ten. He was always destined to start from the back after power unit component changes on his RB22, but the blocked lap had a wider consequence.
With Lawson out, Max Verstappen lost the tow he had been due to receive in the final segment of qualifying. Around Monza, that matters. Those few kilometres per hour at the end of the straight can be the difference between the front row and the second.
The incident may yet have a sting in the tail. Stewards will investigate whether it was Piastri who impeded Lawson, and the Australian could face a grid penalty if they rule against him. A third-place start, and perhaps McLaren’s strategy for Sunday, hangs on that decision.
Aston Martin still stuck
While Alpine celebrated a breakthrough, Aston Martin’s season-long struggle showed no sign of easing.
Fresh chassis upgrades and new Honda power unit updates were supposed to nudge the team back toward the sharp end. Instead, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were left more than half a second adrift of the Cadillacs, a stark gap on a circuit where engine power and straight-line efficiency should flatter any package with genuine pace.
For Gasly and Alpine, Monza has already delivered something precious: a pole that rewrites personal histories and national records. The question now is whether that one lap can be converted into something even more lasting when the lights go out at the Temple of Speed.
