Piastri handed grid penalty at Italian Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri will start the Italian Grand Prix from sixth at Monza after stewards punished him for impeding Red Bull’s Liam Lawson during qualifying. The McLaren driver had originally qualified third, but the three-place penalty moved him to the third row alongside Max Verstappen.

The decision handed pole position to Pierre Gasly, who upset the leading contenders with the first pole of his career for Renault-owned Alpine. George Russell will start second, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton occupy the second row.

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It’s been nine years trying to chase the opportunity to get a pole. I won my first race in Monza and got my first pole at this track. It’s something special around here.

Gasly set a time of 1 minute 21.786 seconds, finishing 0.060 seconds ahead of Russell. The Frenchman had already shown strong pace by leading Q1 and placing fourth in Q2. His mechanics celebrated when the result was confirmed, a day after Gasly had been stripped of third place at last June’s Monaco Grand Prix.

“It’s been nine years trying to chase the opportunity to get a pole,” Gasly said. “I won my first race in Monza and got my first pole at this track. It’s something special around here.”

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We were finishing a game of chess about 15 minutes before qualifying and he beat me there and I went, 'Well, I think I will beat you in qualifying,' and here we are, he's ahead of me again.

Russell, a title contender, praised Gasly’s performance but said he was disappointed to miss pole. He said a messy lap, including Verstappen opening the lap, had affected his run, while acknowledging that Gasly and Alpine had been exceptionally fast.

Mercedes championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who holds a 59-point lead over Russell and Lewis Hamilton, qualified seventh. He will start toward the back because of engine penalties. ABC Sport planned live coverage of the race from 9 p.m. AEST on Sunday.

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I was disappointed to not get pole position. It was a bit messy with Verstappen opening the lap. I did the lap very close, but Pierre and Alpine have been super fast.