The 2020 Italian Grand Prix winner Pierre Gasly returned to Monza Circuit on Saturday, September 5, made just the right moves, and ended up taking home his first ever pole in Formula 1.
Gasly took advantage of a rough Q3 session for McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes to swipe pole. All three teams made crucial errors which allowed the Alpine driver to take a long sought out pole position.
“It was an incredible qually, it felt good my first lap in the car,” Gasly said. “Trying to chip a little bit away every session. In the end, it felt like a very good lap.
“I’m so happy, it’s been nine years trying to chase and get a pole. Win my first race at Monza, win my first pole at this track, I think it’s something special around here.”
“Congratulations to Pierre, incredible performance,” George Russell said, after qualifying in second. “We were actually finishing a game of chess about 15 minutes before qualifying, and he beat me there. And I thought ‘well, I’ll beat you during qualifying’ and here we are, he’s ahead of me again.”
Q3
During the first runs, Ferrari messed up by sending Lewis Hamilton out well behind the rest of the pack, wasting his first hot lap at the draft-heavy Monza track.
Oscar Piastri and Kimi Antonelli both locked up while attempting to tow their respective teammates Lando Norris and Russell, costing all four drivers their final hot laps.
Piastri was at least able to qualify third. Antonelli will start from the back of the grid due to taking multiple power unit allowance penalties.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Leader |
| 1. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Mercedes | 1:21:786m |
| 2. | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.060s |
| 3. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | Mclaren Mercedes | +0.180s |
| 4. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.218s |
| 5. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +0.225s |
| 6. | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Red Bull Ford | +0.284s |
| 7. | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.307s |
| 8. | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine Mercedes | +0.434s |
| 9. | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | +0.470s |
| 10. | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls Red Bull Ford | +0.500s |
Q2
Hamilton came just a thousandth of a second ahead of the cutline, at Ferrari’s home race no less.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 11. | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | +0.001s |
| 12. | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas Ferrari | +0.240s |
| 13. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | +0.263s |
| 14. | 30 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull Racing Red Bull Honda | +0.305s |
| 15. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Atlassian Williams Mercedes | +0.937s |
| 16. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas Ferrari | +0.938s |
Q1
Alexander Albon will also be starting from the rear of the field due to power unit penalties, like Antonelli.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 17. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls Red Bull Ford | +0.139s |
| 18. | 23 | Alexander Albon | Atlassian Williams Mercedes | +0.740s |
| 19. | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac Ferrari | +0.748s |
| 20. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac Ferrari | +0.886s |
| 21. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Honda | +1.441s |
| 22. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Honda | +1.513s |
2026 F1 Italian Grand Prix Qualifying Results
One of the crown jewels of the Formula 1 calendar is on deck for this weekend. The 2026 Italian Grand Prix will be contested on Sunday, September 6. Lights out will be live on Apple TV at 9:00 a.m. ET.
Michael has watched NASCAR for over 25 years and has covered it on-and-off for 14.
In addition to Frontstretch he also writes sporadically for his own websites GrandPrixFocus.com and StockCarFocus.com.
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