Pierre Gasly secured his maiden Formula 1 pole position at the 2026 Italian Grand Prix in Monza. The Alpine driver recorded a lap time of 1m 21.786s, narrowly displacing George Russell. Russell, driving for Mercedes, finished 0.060 seconds behind Gasly in the qualifying session.
This marks Gasly’s first career pole in Formula 1. It is also the first pole position for the Alpine team since its rebranding from Renault five years ago. The achievement represents the first French pole since Jean Alesi at Monza in 1997.
Oscar Piastri of McLaren secured third position on the grid. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, both representing Ferrari, qualified in fourth and fifth places respectively. Max Verstappen for Red Bull finished sixth in the session.
The qualifying session at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza was conducted under hot and dry conditions. Air temperatures reached 34 degrees Celsius, with track temperatures peaking at 56 degrees. The FIA had declared the event a ‘Heat Hazard’ due to the persistent high temperatures.
Ferrari experienced a challenging Q2, with both Leclerc and Hamilton narrowly avoiding elimination. Gabriel Bortoleto of Audi missed Q3 by just one thousandth of a second, finishing 11th. Hamilton had found himself in the drop zone during the initial Q2 runs.
Kimi Antonelli, driving for Mercedes, qualified seventh but will incur an engine penalty. This penalty will see him start from the back of the grid for Sunday’s race. Liam Lawson and Alex Albon also face similar grid penalties.
Franco Colapinto, Gasly’s teammate at Alpine, secured eighth position. Lando Norris of McLaren qualified ninth, while Arvid Lindblad for Racing Bulls completed the top ten. Piastri is under investigation for potentially impeding Lawson during qualifying.
Earlier in Q1, Yuki Tsunoda of Racing Bulls suffered an early exit due to a fuel leak on his car. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll continued their difficult season, qualifying significantly slower than their rivals.
Alpine confirmed Franco Colapinto as Pierre Gasly’s teammate for the 2026 season in November 2025. The team’s car is currently powered by Mercedes power units.
