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Pierre Gasly delivered the story of Italian Grand Prix qualifying at Monza, taking the first pole position of his Formula 1 career for Alpine with a late lap of 1:21.786. He beat Mercedes’ George Russell by 0.060 seconds and said the result was especially meaningful after Alpine’s difficult week following the loss of his Monaco podium, calling the Monza lap a response to that setback. Alpine managing director Steve Nielsen said the team would try to win on Sunday and should not be cautious after earning pole on merit.

Gasly’s surprise pole came after a strong qualifying run in which he improved through Q1 and Q2, then found the pace needed in the final segment. Alpine’s Monza-specific upgrades, including low-drag work and a recent update package, helped the team match the speed of Mercedes cars on the straights. Russell had briefly been on top in Q3 before Gasly’s final effort, and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said Max Verstappen’s positioning compromised Russell’s lap. Russell said he still had a strong chance from the front row, while Gasly said he planned to stay ahead for as long as possible.

Behind them, Oscar Piastri initially qualified third for McLaren but received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Liam Lawson in Q2, dropping him to sixth and promoting Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen on the grid. Ferrari left qualifying disappointed after Leclerc and Hamilton qualified fourth and fifth on pace, both narrowly escaping elimination in Q2, and Hamilton said Ferrari’s execution was poor despite strong practice. McLaren also struggled with its tow strategy, with Lando Norris qualifying ninth, while Lawson was left frustrated after the incident that ended his Q2 run and Red Bull said it still had issues to solve before Sunday’s race.

George Russell topped final practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on Friday with a lap of 1:22.219, leading Lewis Hamilton by 0.226 seconds and Max Verstappen by 0.350. Kimi Antonelli was fourth, Lando Norris fifth and Charles Leclerc sixth, with the top six covered by less than half a second. Mercedes appeared strong heading into qualifying, while Ferrari and McLaren stayed in the mix on a traffic-heavy, slipstream-dependent session.

The hour also turned tense between Hamilton and Verstappen. Verstappen accused Hamilton of blocking him ahead of Turn 7, then later the pair ran into each other again as Hamilton passed Verstappen before the final corner and Verstappen lunged into Turn 1 on the next exchange. Both drivers aborted their final laps and traded blame on the radio, while Verstappen also vented about Ferrari. Stewards did not take further action.

Friday had already pointed to a tight battle at the front. Ferrari led opening practice with Leclerc ahead of Hamilton, then Mercedes answered in FP2 with Russell fastest ahead of Leclerc and Antonelli. Ferrari said its upgraded power unit was a step forward, but Hamilton said the team still lagged Mercedes in straight-line speed and would need overnight work on balance and energy deployment. McLaren struggled more than expected, with Oscar Piastri eighth in FP3 after lock-ups and traffic, while qualifying was set to begin later on Saturday.

Red Bull ended Friday practice at Monza worried about a balance problem on the RB22, with technical director Pierre Wache saying the issue was similar to what the team faced at Zandvoort. The team missed FP1 after rookie Ayumu Iwasa drove Verstappen’s car, which left Red Bull with less track time and less data to address the setup before the rest of the weekend.

Max Verstappen first got into the car for FP2 and reported balance problems, low-speed grip issues, weak braking and heavy bouncing after setup changes. Iwasa said the car felt manageable in low-speed sections but was tricky in high-speed corners. Wache said Red Bull’s main concern was balance rather than any upgrades brought to Monza.

Wache said the team would evaluate components and make choices before FP3 in an effort to react overnight. Red Bull also found an energy-management issue during preparation laps, although Wache described that as a normal practice concern. Verstappen finished ninth fastest on Friday, and both Red Bull cars were behind a Racing Bulls car and a Haas.