Pierre Gasly takes shock pole for F1 Italian GP as Alpine stun big guns

Pierre Gasly claimed a shock pole position for the Italian Grand Prixat Monza, securing his first Formula One pole and the first for his Alpine team. In a tightly-fought contest the Frenchman just had the edge to take pole over the Mercedes of George Russell in second and the McLaren of Oscar Piastri in third. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were in fourth and fifth and the defending world champion Lando Norris in ninth.

Although he took seventh place, the championship leader Kimi Antonelli will start on the last row of the grid having taken a full set of new engine components, with Mercedes opting to do so at Monza because of the ample scope for overtaking at the circuit. They are hopeful he might comeback to as high as fifth place while Russell will be intent on making back a decent haul of points against his teammate.

Antonelli currently leads both Russell and Hamilton by 59 points.

For Gasly it was a remarkable achievement in his ninth full season in F1 and all the more striking given Alpine have been no match for the leaders all season. He is currently 10th in the championship with Alpine in sixth place.

The Frenchman has shown form at Monza before, taking his only win here in 2020, but in a race influenced by a well-timed pit stop and Hamilton receiving a penalty. This pole was earned entirely on merit but with the Mercedes likely to be formidable on Sunday, converting it will be a huge task.

On the opening quick laps in Q3 with a tow vital on the high-speed, low downforce track, Mercedes were using Antonelli as planned to give Russell a slipstream, as Norris did the same for Piastri. Russell duly set the quickest time with a 1min 21.929sec run, just in front of Piastri, who is under investigation for impeding Liam Lawson in Q2. Yet it was Gasly, who has been quick all weekend, who caught the eye, taking a hugely impressive third, but there was nothing in it with the top four separated by only seven-hundredths of a second.

The final laps were a tense shootout and Mercedes put Antonelli out on his own early for a second run, before heading out once more to give Russell the tow. Leclerc did the same for Hamilton and Piastri for Norris but Piastri overcooked it in to turn one, costing the defending world champion any shot at pole.

Russell made the best of it and looked to have done enough to take the top spot only for Gasly, hammering his lap in the British driver’s wake, flew over the line to take pole by six-hundredths in a huge upset, with a phenomenal lap of 1min 21.786secs.

It comes after what had already been something of a dramatic weekend for Gasly and Alpine. Before qualifying the FIA international court of appeal (ICA) issued a stern rebuke after extraordinary allegations made by the Alpine executive advisor and de facto team principal, Flavio Briatore. He had intimated on Friday that one of the judges that overturned Gasly’s third place in the Monaco GP was biased in favour of McLaren, who had taken an appeal on the Monaco result to the ICA.

Briatore’s comments alleged a judge, whom he named, had acted as a “prosecutor” and said: “The reason why so nasty, this guy. He is very linked with McLaren.” It prompted a fierce row, with the McLaren principal, Andrea Stella, dismissing the comments as “insulting” to his team.

The ICA, which acts independently of the FIA, pointedly noted that Alpine had every chance to question the appointment of the judges but did not do so and that they were carefully selected.

“At both the beginning and conclusion of the hearing, the parties were invited to raise any issue concerning the proceedings or the composition of the court. None did so. No objection was raised during the hearing concerning the manner in which the court questioned the witness or conducted the proceedings,” read the statement.

“The FIA courts wish to make clear that the appointment and participation of the judges in that case, like for any other case, were conducted in accordance with the applicable FIA judicial procedures and usual practice, which are inspired by the highest standards like the International Bar Association guidelines on conflicts of interest in international arbitration.

“They are all subject to the independence and confidentiality requirements contained in the FIA judicial and disciplinary rules, make annual disclosures of interests to the FIA compliance officer, and sign a specific declaration of independence for each particular case in consideration of the issue at stake and the parties involved, which is served to the parties.”