Gasly takes pole for Monza
Gasly takes pole for Monza
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F1 Monza LIVE: Reaction after Gasly takes shock Italian GP pole

Live coverage of Saturday at the F1 Italian Grand Prix

KEY MOMENTS

  • Antonelli and Lawson set for back-of-the-grid starts
  • George Russell fastest in FP2 and FP3
  • Gasly's Monaco F1 penalty reapplied

The 13th round of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place at the Italian Grand Prix.

The Temple of Speed will be bathed in Ferrari Rosso for the weekend, but this colouring is likely to be broken up by fans sporting home hero Kimi Antonelli's merchandise. 

The Mercedes driver arrives at Monza with a 59-point advantage over both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, but faces a tough task on Sunday, as an engine penalty, confirmed by his team, will see him start from the back of the grid.

Ferrari has brought its upgraded power unit to the track for the first time, in a bid to close the gap on front-runners Mercedes and McLaren, with Lando Norris having triumphed on the last two weekends for the latter. McLaren has also debuted its rotating rear wing, which it has called the H-Wing.

Super-clipping is expected to be a significant issue this weekend, especially on the run to Turn 1 in the race, with energy being spent down the back straight, no heavy braking for the Parabolica, and the main straight immediately following. How drivers manage their energy will be more crucial than ever this weekend.

Ferrari set the early pace on Friday with Charles Leclerc leading a Ferrari 1-2 in FP1, before Geroge Russell moved Mercedes to the top in the later session.

2026 Italian Grand Prix Saturday schedule

FP3 11:30am BST - 12:30pm BST

Qualifying: 3:00pm BST - 4:00pm BST

Sam Hall Profile Picture
05 Sep 2026
12:24

Into the final six minutes we go, and Antonelli is on another lap. He's not improving massively, but Russell is going purple. 

Behind both, Hamilton is also going purple! 

12:23

Drivers are finding the limits and are going beyond them. Verstappen is blocked, Perez finds the gravel...it's all Monza stuff. 

12:20

Lindblad improves to third place with a 1m22.724s. Gasly moves up to P7 with Hulkenberg and Bortoleto following in the top nine. 

But the McLaren and Ferrari drivers are now winding up for their next efforts. 

12:19

Antonelli returns to second place before heading back to the pits. A whole heap of times are about to land now. 

12:16

Russell goes faster still with a 1m22.436s effort, as Verstappen goes second, 0.327s back on the benchmark time. 

12:15

Traffic everywhere. This is going to be a constant problem today. Only 15 minutes of practice remain before qualifying. 

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12:10

Leclerc disrupts the Mercedes dominance at a perfect time for Ferrari. His 1m22.913s is 0.226s shy of Russell, but that would put him on the front row later on. 

Sainz and Albon have both been noted for yellow flag infringements. 

12:06

Russell goes for another soft lap and smashes the rest with a 1m22.687s to go fastest by 0.345s. Toto Wolff gives a nod of approval in the garage. It's now a Mercedes 1-2. 

Antonelli gave him a tow through sector one. That could be a difference maker later on. 

12:03

With clear air and on mediums, Piastri leaps up from 12th to ninth place. He lost a decent chunk of time in the last sector, but is only 0.02s behind Norris. 

12:01

Piastri is asked if everything is ok, and he very sarcastically responds 'It's great'. He had run wide at Turn 1, and is now in traffic, attempting to grab a tow for his next run. 

11:58

Colapinto may be down to P8 at the moment, but this has been a strong start for Alpine on Saturday. 

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11:57

Russell goes to fifth place. Ahead of him are Antonelli, Leclerc, Gasly, and Verstappen - the first two on softs, and the latter pair on mediums. 

11:55

Leclerc has had his time deleted and he's about to go again. 

Russell is also on his first hot lap. 

11:53

Piastri kicks up the gravel, and we have yellow flags being shown around the track for a period. They're back in now. Lawson had spun at the first chicane when getting on throttle at the second part of the corner. 

He reiterates a complaint of Verstappen's from yesterday that the Red Bull has zero grip under low speed. 

11:50

On Hamilton's lap, he ran slightly wide at the first Lesmo, but then crossed the line behind the two Aston Martin drivers. He'd be more concerned about that if this was qualifying. 

11:49

In free air, Antonelli puts in a 1m23.032s. The only drivers yet to set a time now are Piastri, Norris, and Russell. 

Leclerc is second, while Hamilton is only 13th. There must have been an error on his lap. 

11:46

Antonelli heads out, and Russell is still nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, on the run to the Ascari chicane, the backmarkers are all attempting to take a tow off each other. 

11:45

As the times begin to come in, Lawson moves to second with a 1m24.240s, but he's pushed down as Colapinto puts in a clean lap this time and goes fastest on medium tyres. 

At the foot, Stroll is over 3.5s slower than the Alpine driver. 

11:41

Here come the other drivers from the lower order, with Aston Martin, Haas and Cadillac all sending their drivers out. 

Lawson, who has a back of the grid penalty for an engine change with Red Bull, also heads out. He will almost certainly provide a tow for Verstappen later in the day. 

11:39

A 1m25.349s for Gasly puts him to the top ahead of Sainz, who falls short by over a tenth despite being on the more favourable rubber. 

11:36

Colapinto begins his first hot lap and cuts across the opening chicane. A trip through the gravel on the inside and he continues. 

11:35

But wait, here come the Alpine drivers on medium rubber. It's likely that they will be doing a similar exercise to Audi. Sainz also heads out for Williams, but on soft tyres. We might see an early effort here. 

Albon was also coming out, but he has a problem with his steering wheel being jammed. 

11:33

And the track falls silent again. Both Audis completed a single slow installation lap on medium tyres. 

11:31
Green light in FP3

Almost no drivers are in their cars yet as the lights go green. This session is all going to be focused on qualifying, so there are no surprises there. 

However, Audi break the trend with Bortoleto and Hulkenberg going out early. 

11:28

For anyone playing along with Max Verstappen bingo, we had complaints about no grip and the brakes yesterday. All we need is a complaint about gearshifts, and we have a complete list!