Italian Grand Prix: Pierre Gasly claims shock pole position

After the heartbreak of losing his Monaco podium in the FIA court, Pierre Gasly claimed a shock pole position for the Italian Grand Prix.

Gasly featured at the sharp end throughout qualifying, and come Q3, pulled off the ultimate redemption story by beating Mercedes’ George Russell to pole by 0.06 seconds.

Oscar Piastri stuns with Italian Grand Prix pole

Qualifying began with Mercedes’ championship leader Kimi Antonelli, Red Bull’s Liam Lawson and Williams’ Alex Albon all knowing they had back-of-the-grid engine penalties.

That created intrigue over whether some tactical towing would come into play at those teams. Antonelli had already stated his willingness to provide that boost for George Russell come Q3.

Lawson and Russell were going against the grain with medium tyres for the first Q1 run, versus softs elsewhere on track.

Lando Norris was off over the gravel strip at the opening chicane. Take two, and he moved into the top five.

Ahead of the final runs, it was Alpine’s Pierre Gasly out front. In fact, both Alpines were in the top three. Max Verstappen’s Red Bull was sandwiched in between.

Lawson did take on a set of softs, and moved into the top 10.

Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg, Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez were in danger of elimination.

Alonso’s elimination was confirmed when he exited his Aston Martin with two minutes to go in Q1.

Oscar Piastri became the second McLaren to miss T1/2.

Gasly, the 2020 Italian GP winner, topped Q1. Yuki Tsunoda, Albon, Bottas, Perez, Alonso and Stroll were out.

Lawson and Verstappen were practicing the tow at the start of Q2. Verstappen’s resulting 1:22.573 set the early benchmark to chase.

However, in “Turn 2, 4, 5,” the Red Bull was “undriveable” according to Verstappen, who claimed a broken suspension “again.”

It was Piastri from Norris after the opening runs in a McLaren one-two. Gasly continued to look mighty up in third.

Hamilton needed a better time to make Q3. Verstappen was on the bubble, initially, in 10th. He soon improved to fifth.

Lawson’s towing service was at risk of missing Q3. Piastri got out of the way as quickly as he could at the opening chicane, as Lawson chased a Q3 spot with one last lap. He did not make it.

Piastri was noted by the stewards.

By 0.001s, Hamilton made Q3, as Leclerc also sneaked through. Antonelli topped Q2. Gabriel Bortoleto, Oliver Bearman, Nico Hulkenberg, Lawson, Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon were out.

Now for the big one, Q3 time. Ferrari had pace to find. Was Gasly truly in the pole mix? Could McLaren and Verstappen challenge Mercedes? We were about to find out.

Antonelli wasted no time in giving Russell a slipstream down the main straight.

It was provisional pole for Russell, even though he was “really struggling with the car” compared to FP3, from Piastri and Gasly.

Leclerc slotted into P4, with the top four covered by a mere 0.075s.

Antonelli returned to the track as the first flurry of laps concluded, and went P6.

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Piastri was at the head of the queue, unfortunately for him, for the all-important final Q3 runs.

To make matters worse, Piastri was off again at Turn 1, just as it was confirmed that he would be investigated post-qualifying for that potential Lawson impede.

What’s more, Norris, who was running directly behind his McLaren teammate, lost his tow.

Oh, and remember we mentioned Gasly looked good? Pole position! By 0.06s, Gasly is on pole position for the Italian Grand Prix!

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Full Italian Grand Prix qualifying results: 2026 Italian Grand Prix – Qualifying F1 results (Monza)