Gasly charges to maiden F1 pole at Monza over Russell and Piastri

Pierre Gasly claimed his first-ever Formula 1 pole position at the Italian Grand Prix in a thrilling qualifying session at Monza. The Alpine driver set a blistering lap time of 1:21.786 to edge out Mercedes’ George Russell and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, marking a historic achievement at the 'Temple of Speed' where he also secured his maiden win in 2020. Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton took fourth and fifth, followed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in sixth. Kimi Antonelli qualified seventh but will face an engine penalty, while Franco Colapinto secured eighth for Alpine. Rounding out the top ten were Lando Norris and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad, as the field navigated brake issues and intense traffic during the session. Further down the order, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto narrowly missed Q3 by a thousandth of a second, while Liam Lawson struggled with an incident involving Piastri. Despite some strong performances from newcomers, others like Yuki Tsunoda and the Aston Martin pair of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll faced a difficult session, finishing further back on the grid.