Pierre Gasly took a shock pole position for the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, denying George Russell and dashing hopes of a Ferrari pole on home soil.
As qualifying got underway at the Temple of Speed, the Tifosi hoped for a Ferrari pole position. But with the searing speed demonstrated by George Russell during practice, thhis looked to be a challenge.
The second Mercedes of championship Kimi Antonelli faced a very different Saturday, knowing he would be sent to the back of the grid for power unit changes. His rivals were queuing up to capitalise on the Italian’s misfortune.
Q1
At the green flag, the pit lane was surprisingly quiet. The high ambient temperatures meant that no one was in a rush to take to the circuit, with no one firing up the cars as the session got underway. But once Liam Lawson headed out, everyone else followed within a matter of seconds, the mere prospect of the infamous Monza tow proving to be irresistible.
Lando Norris’ first run did not go to plan, running wide at the first corner as he battled brake problems, but he proved to be the only one to have a moment in the opening minutes. Once everyone else had completed their first runs, it was both Aston Martins and Cadillacs in the elimination zone, joined by Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon, with Hulkenberg on the fringes. McLaren looked to be in trouble, placed ninth and tenth after the opening minutes. Alpine pulled in the biggest shock, bumping Verstappen off the top of the timesheets.
A lull then descended over Monza, as the most expensive social game of “please, after you” played out in the pits. Fernando Alonso did not take part in the final runs, getting out of his car with two minutes to go. Oscar Piastri locked up at the first corner and spoiled his run, but crossed the line just as the chequered flag fell, but progressed through to Q2 regardless.
Further back, Stroll joined teammate Alonso in the bottom five, becoming the first driver in F1 history to be eliminated in Q1 100 times. The rest of the elimination zone remained unchanged with the exception of Yuki Tsuonda, who got knocked out in the dying seconds.
Eliminated: Tsunoda, Albon, Bottas, Perez, Alonso, Stroll
Q2
The Red Bulls of Verstappen and Liam Lawson were joined by the sole remaining Williams of Sainz, who exited the pits as soon as it opened for the start of Q2, the rest of the teams seemingly biding their time. The reason for the former duo’s eagerness became clear, as they practised towing each other, with Lawson aiding the Dutchman, Verstappen taking to the radio to report yet more rear axle issues on his RB22.
With ten minutes to go, the rest of the field took to the track. Once the first runs were in, Piastri led a McLaren one-two with Gasly performing well once again in third. Two shock names were far lower in the order than they expected to be, with Verstappen tenth and Hamilton a lowly 11th for Ferrari. Oliver Bearman, Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, Sainz and Ocon made up the rest of the bottom six.
Verstappen moved up to fifth before the final runs, with the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in ninth and slower than the projected knockout time, as the session entered its final two minutes. Verstappen attempted to tow Lawson, but encountered a slow-moving Oscar Piastri at Turn 1 but traffic destroyed his effort.
As the clock counted down to the end of the session, Leclerc did not have the luxury of this, towing Hamilton, who improved to tenth. None of the other bottom five improved, but Ferrari ended Q2 at the bottom end of the top ten, concerning the Tifosi ahead of Q3.
Eliminated: Bor, Bearman, Hul, Lawon, Sainz, Ocon
Q3
The pretenders for pole position at Monza all took to the track at the green light, with the battle for the tow well and truly underway. Ferrari, however, looked to have miscalculated theirs, with Hamilton a long way behind Leclerc. Russell led at the end of the first runs from Piastri and Gasly once again impressing in third.
All was not well for Russell, however, the Briton reported front locking issues on his Mercedes. Hamilton’s first lap also proved disastrous; his first lap was only good enough for a provisional eighth place on the grid, suffering similar issues to Russell.
As the cars took to the track for their final qualifying laps, Gasly and teammate Franco Colapinto exited the pit lane last, the drivers taking their time to start their laps, with Piastri a driver without a tow. Locking up into Turn 1 ruined Norris’ lap by default. Russell extended his advantage, but Gasly jumped to the top of the times as others failed to improve, sending the Alpine garage into raptures, as he took Team Enstone’s first pole position in 17 years.
Top 10: Gasly, Russell, Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton, Verstappen, Antonelli, Colapinto, Norris, Lindblad
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