Gasly pulls off Monza surprise to claim first F1 pole

Pierre Gasly delivered the surprise of qualifying at Monza, taking the first pole position of his Formula One career for Alpine. He will start Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix from the front of the grid, six years after claiming his only F1 victory at the same circuit.

Gasly completed the decisive Q3 lap in 1 minute, 21.786 seconds on soft tires over Monza’s 5.793-kilometre track. George Russell of Mercedes finished 0.060 seconds behind and will share the front row with him.

Oscar Piastri had initially qualified third for McLaren, but a three-place penalty moved him to sixth after officials ruled that he had impeded Liam Lawson during Q2. Charles Leclerc and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will occupy the second row for Ferrari, which is racing at its home circuit.

The grid penalty for championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli had already been known. The 20-year-old Italian exceeded Mercedes’ limit for power-unit changes and will start from 20th. He leads the championship with 242 points, 59 more than Russell and Hamilton, who is third in the standings.

Antonelli will try to recover from the back of the field, alongside Lawson and Alex Albon, who received the same penalty and will start on the final row. Sergio Pérez will start 17th, while Carlos Sainz will begin 13th and Fernando Alonso 18th. Gasly’s pole capped a dramatic weekend after the FIA told him on Friday that he had lost his third-place finish in Monaco to Isack Hadjar.