Gasly Takes the First Pole Position of His F1 Career at Monza

Pierre Gasly produced the surprise of qualifying at Monza, taking the first pole position of his Formula One career for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

The 30-year-old Alpine driver dominated the decisive Q3 session. On soft tyres, he covered Monza’s 5.793-kilometre track in 1 minute, 21.786 seconds, finishing 60 thousandths ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was third, 180 thousandths behind Gasly.

Gasly’s Alpine teammate Franco Colapinto recorded the eighth-fastest time, 434 thousandths off the pole. He will start seventh, however, after Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli received a penalty for exceeding the permitted limit on power-unit changes. Antonelli, who had set the seventh-fastest time and leads the championship, will start from the back of the grid.

Charles Leclerc will start fourth for Ferrari, alongside Piastri on the second row, provided Piastri emerges unscathed from an incident recorded in Q2. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will start fifth, with four-time champion Max Verstappen sixth for Red Bull.

Lando Norris, the most recent world champion, will line up beside Colapinto on the fourth row after gaining a place because of Antonelli’s penalty. Arvid Lindblad and Gabriel Bortoleto will occupy the fifth row. Carlos Sainz starts 14th, Fernando Alonso 20th and Sergio Perez 19th.

The race is scheduled for 53 laps, covering 306.7 kilometres.