At the venue where he took his first Grand Prix victory, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly wrote a brilliant chapter in his Formula 1 career after taking his first Formula 1 pole position at Monza.
In an exciting showdown in the third qualifying session, Gasly edged out pre-session favorite George Russell by just 0.060s, giving the Mercedes driver his fifth pole of the year and putting Alpin at the top of the fastest lap charts.
Russell took the first shot in the final, clocking 1:21.929, ahead of Oscar Piastre, Galli and Charles Leclerc.
With all drivers in the top ten less than two-tenths of a second apart, aerodynamic drag proved crucial in gaining the best possible track position, with Russell taking a hundred in team Kimi Antonelli.
Antonelli had to start from the back row due to engine penalties, so the Italian was asked to give Russell an aerobus around the 5.8km circuit.
But Gasly also played his cards right after he took aero from Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari and performed an exceptional lap in which he jumped ahead of Russell.
Piastre and Leclerc were fourth and fifth, followed by Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Antonelli qualified seventh, but he would lose that position on the grid, dropping Franco Colapinto to seventh.
Norris finished a disappointing ninth after he was unable to get aero from his teammate Piastre, who went off the track in turn one. The Australian thus spoiled his own circuit and left Norris alone.
Piastre and Norris both had braking problems at Turn 1 and Piastre is expected to be investigated for Liam Lawson’s delay.
Arvid Linblad took tenth place, and as a result of Antonelli’s penalty, he moved up to ninth.
Early attempts in the second part of qualifying kept Ferrari driver Hamilton in the elimination zone as he faced traffic at inappropriate times on his lap, leaving the seven-time world champion with a lot of work to do in his final attempt.
Leclerc was under pressure in ninth, with neither teammate able to help the other red car.
Leclerc could not improve his time, but Hamilton was able to take half a tenth of a second out of the SF-26, edging out Audi’s Gabriel Bortoletto by a slim 0.001s, saving Ferrari from an embarrassing situation.
Behind Bortoletto was Haas driver Oliver Bierman, who used an upgraded car and powerplant to finish twelfth. Liam Lawson was eliminated in thirteenth place, denying Red Bull the opportunity to give Verstappen aero qualifying in Q3.
Lawson, who will replace the injured Ishaq Hajjar for the second consecutive weekend, will join Antonelli at the back of the net due to an engine penalty.
Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon also left the session at the end of the second section of qualifying.
With Gasly leading the first leg of qualifying impressively ahead of Verstappen and Norris, it was the last stop for Racing Bulls replacement driver Yuki Tsunoda, who replaced Lawson in the regular New Zealand team.
Sainz’s team-mate Alex Albon also played a part, giving the Spaniard crucial aero down the straight, with the Briton-Thai in 18th.
Cadillac has overtaken Aston Martin in the standings, with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez occupying the top two positions, comfortably ahead of struggling Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. Alonso did not finish the last attempt due to a problem with the Honda’s power plant.
However, Aston Martin will not have to start from the bottom row of the grid as Lawson and Antonelli will remain there due to engine change penalties.
The third part of the qualifying stage
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