Pierre Gasly stunned F1 with unlikely Monza pole - now he can avenge lost podium

Pierre Gasly caused the biggest upset of the 2026 Formula 1 season so far with an incredible lap to claim a shock pole position at the Italian Grand Prix. 

The 30-year-old Frenchman stunned the entire paddock as he beat George Russell’s Mercedes to top spot in qualifying at Monza by just 0.060 seconds with a last-ditch effort at the end of Q3. 

Gasly looked fast in his recently-upgraded Alpine throughout practice and raised eyebrows when he set the pace in Q1, but no one, Gasly included, expected him to be in with a genuine shot of pole. 

A brilliant first lap in Q3 left Gasly third and just 0.071s behind Russell, before he produced one of the laps of his life to snatch an extraordinary maiden pole of his career, and a first for team Enstone in 17 years. 

In doing so, Gasly created a slice of F1 history in becoming the first Frenchman to be on pole since Jean Alesi did - also at this race - in 1997.

Reflecting on the unexpected performance and a result that came out of nowhere, a delighted Gasly, who achieved his only F1 win at Monza in 2020, said: “I’m extremely happy with our performance. 

“It’s been nine years I’m in Formula 1, trying to give my best absolutely every single weekend and it’s not every time we get a car to fight for pole position. Today it was the case and, yeah, I’m really, really happy, really proud to have seized this chance and to make it work. 

“It was a heck of a lap. We’ve been on it since the first lap in Q1, it’s been feeling good. Nine years waiting for that moment, that feeling. I got my first win here in Monza and now I get my first pole position, so definitely a special place to me.” 

Gasly admitted the result “exceeded all of our expectations”. So just how did he do it?

One factor is that Gasly’s Alpine car is powered by Mercedes engines, which despite the FIA’s ADUO rankings verdict, is widely viewed as the class-leading power unit in F1 this season. 

The top three in qualifying were all powered by Mercedes engines, though Gasly’s team-mate, Franco Colapinto, was only eighth-fastest. 

Although Gasly did not set a single purple sector during his pole lap, he did maximise the performance of his car, setting personal bests around the track. 

Crucially, his rivals did not. Russell was hampered by running too close to the back of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull when he opened his final push lap, which Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes ultimately cost the Briton pole. 

But that should not take away from the phenomenal effort from Gasly, who left it all on the line and was rewarded handsomely. 

"Since this morning, I think the pace has been better. We managed to make a good step from P3 to quali, and I think slightly bigger than the other guys around us,” he explained. 

“Straight from Q1 we were a bit surprised to see us up there, as our target was Q3. But then I think I was P1 in Q1, then P4 in Q2. I didn’t want to get too excited, but then first run in Q3, I think I was third again and then I felt, “Okay, I really have a shot at it.” 

“It’s probably the first time I really get a true chance and I tried to leave everything I had out there. It was quite hectic through Ascari and Parabolica. 

“I don’t think there was definitely much in there and crossing the line, I knew it would be one of these laps that would be rewarded. But to the point to get the pole position, I didn’t expect that. So, yeah, very, very pleased.”

So does Gasly consider this to be the best lap of his F1 career? 

“It’s not my first race in F1, it’s too many and I don’t remember all of them,” he conceded in response to that question.

“I don’t know. It’s definitely one of these laps that I’ll put up there. I’m just happy. I’m just happy for the team and also the whole weekend, a lot of emotions, everything going on, etcetera. 

“So just trying to stick at doing my job the best I can and that’s what we did today. So very, very pleased and very proud of my team here.” 

Gasly’s last comment was a reference to fact that his weekend started on a sour note and has been surrounded by off-track controversy - through no fault of his own. 

His pole came a day after he lost his third place finish from the Monaco Grand Prix after the FIA International Court of Appeal reinstated his two time penalties following an appeal by McLaren and Red Bull. 

Gasly was tight-lipped on the matter but suggested the affair had provided him with a little bit of extra motivation. 

“I don’t think I can say much about this and all I can say is it’s not a nice situation, not ideal,” he admitted. 

“Obviously, I try to use everything I can into something positive and extra motivation, but I think I could have dealt without it this weekend. That’s all I’ll say.”

While Gasly acknowledged his chances of doubling his F1 victory tally on Sunday is unlikely, he has the chance to claim a bit of redemption after feeling like he was robbed of his Monaco podium.

“I’m in the best position, right? I’m starting first, got no one ahead of me,” Gasly said.

“I just got to focus on my driving. I know what it looks like having no one around this track, so that’s a good advantage and probably the best place to do it. 

“But it’s going to be a long race. Our race pace, I actually felt [was] quite good. Obviously not to the pace of these guys around us, but we seem to have picked up more pace from yesterday to today. 

"We’ll obviously give our best shot and see what we can get out of it. But I’m excited.”