Gasly earned first career pole for Alpine at Monza
NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 5, 2026
Gasly delivered Alpine pole
Pierre Gasly put Alpine on pole at Monza and did it with the first Formula 1 pole of his career. The French driver turned a 1:21.786 lap in qualifying and beat George Russell by 0.060 seconds, a sharp finish to a session that caught the paddock off guard. Alpine had not been near the front of the grid in recent races, and Gasly’s run ended a 190-race wait for a first pole that ranked as the second-longest in Formula 1 history. It also gave Alpine its first Formula 1 pole since Fernando Alonso at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Gasly said the result was “incredible” and added, “It’s been nine years chasing it!” He said he did not expect to fight for pole at Monza, but the picture changed once he reached Q3 and kept finding more speed. Alpine’s upgraded, low-drag Mercedes-powered package gave him the platform to attack the lap, and Gasly made it count when the session tightened up late. The pole arrived after a difficult weekend for Alpine, which had also dealt with the loss of Gasly’s Monaco podium on appeal. That context made the breakthrough stand out even more, because Alpine turned a rough stretch into one of its biggest qualifying moments in years.
Russell, Piastri reshuffle
George Russell lined up second for Mercedes, while Oscar Piastri initially qualified third for McLaren before a penalty changed the grid. Piastri received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Liam Lawson in Q2, which dropped him from third to sixth. The change moved Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton up to third and fourth, giving Ferrari a better starting position than the original qualifying order suggested. It also pushed the front of the grid into sharper focus, with Gasly leading a group of heavy hitters that included Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari.
The penalty added another twist to a session that already had a surprise at the top. Russell stayed close enough to challenge Gasly, but he could not match the pole lap. For Alpine, that made Gasly’s lap even more valuable. He did not just beat one driver in the final run, he topped a qualifying sheet that featured some of the strongest names in the field and held on as the grid shifted behind him.
Verstappen and Alpine’s rise
Max Verstappen qualified sixth after reporting a car issue, another sign that Monza qualifying did not settle in the usual order. The Red Bull driver’s result left him outside the top five and behind the group that moved up after Piastri’s penalty. That was part of the wider story at the front, where Gasly’s pole stood out because it came against the expectation of a more familiar lineup. Alpine’s package, and Gasly’s execution of it, gave the team an answer on a weekend that could have gone the other way.
The result changed Alpine’s fortunes at Monza. It put Alpine at the front, put Russell and the rest in pursuit, and gave the team a result built on speed, timing and a clean final lap when it mattered most.
