Alpine’s Gasly takes shock pole for Italian Grand Prix

Alpine's Pierre Gasly of France secured a surprising pole position for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, marking his first ever pole in the 191 qualifying attempts. The 30-year-old Frenchman clocked a best lap of one minute 21.786 seconds, edging out Mercedes' George Russell by 0.060 seconds, with McLaren's Oscar Piastri finishing third, 0.180 seconds behind.

This victory came after nine years of persistent attempts to achieve the same goal, and it was particularly special as Gasly won his lone Grand Prix at Monza in 2020. After the shock pole, Gasly expressed his joy and gratitude to everyone involved. This is a massive accomplishment, he emphasized, stating that it has been years in the making to reach this milestone.

For me, it's very special, he added. Russell congratulated Gasly on his phenomenal performance, noting that he was finishing a game of chess just 15 minutes before qualifying and still lost the pole. Piastri echoed a similar sentiment, acknowledging that the first lap felt quite good and that it's been a while since his last qualifying session.

The session started in scorching heat with track temperatures reaching 56C, but Gasly's impressive qualifying performance propelled him to the top of the grid, setting the stage for a competitive race ahead.