F1 2026: Italian Grand Prix Qualifying Recap: Pierre Gasly picks up incredible maiden career pole at Monza

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly has taken pole position at the Italian Grand Prix 2026, stunning the front runners of Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari. At the track where he picked up his first and till date only race win, Gasly impressed throughout qualifying and pipped George Russell to take pole position. Gasly’s pole in Monza was also his first-ever career pole position as the Alpine outshone Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren and the Ferraris. 

It was a disappointing afternoon for the home team Ferrari and also home hero Kimi Antonelli, who will be taking an engine penalty and will have to put up a massive charge through the field if Antonelli was to treat his home fans to a podium. 

If you missed the Italian Grand Prix 2026 Qualifying session, here’s a quick recap. 

Q1 – Gasly impresses as Tsunoda misses out by a whisker

Qualifying session kicked off under a sunny sky in Monza with home boy Kimi Antonelli flying around Monza but it was Pierre Gasly going fastest early on after the first laps from all with Max Verstappen behind his former teammate. 

With little more than five minutes left on the clock, Red Bull’s Liam Lawson made a switch to the Soft compound tyres which saw him manage P10, improving on his first time. As the chequered flag fell, the Aston Martins and Cadillacs missed out while Williams’ Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda missed out on a Q2 spot as well with Tsunoda being knocked out by 0.139s. 

Drivers eliminated in Q1:

Yuki Tsunoda
Alex Albon
Valtteri Bottas
Sergio Pérez
Fernando Alonso
Lance Stroll

Q2 – Hamilton, Lecerc squeeze through; Lawson knocked out

The Red Bulls were out first in Q2 which saw Max Verstappen hold the quickest time early on with a 1:22.573s, more than two tenths clear of his teammate, Liam Lawson. Verstappen was dislodged by the Mercedes duo before Oscar Piastri went quickest with a 1:22.017s, 0.050s quicker than Lando Norris, who slotted in at second place. 

The Ferraris struggled to keep up with the top four with Leclerc only P8 after the first runs while Hamilton was in the drop zone after his opening lap in P11 and six tenths slower than Piastri. As the clocked ticked down, it was Liam Lawson and Hamilton as the big names in the drop zone and while Hamilton squeezed out and into Q3, Lawson failed to make it to the top 10 shootout along with the Audi pair of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg, Williams’ Carlos Sainz, and Esteban Ocon. Bortoleto finished P11 and was 0.001s slower than Hamilton, who went through at P10!

Drivers eliminated in Q2:

Gabriel Bortoleto
Ollie Bearman
Nico Hülkenberg
Liam Lawson
Carlos Sainz
Esteban Ocon

Q3 – Gasly storms to pole position at Monza

The Mercedes duo was first out on track for Q3 with Russell going fastest early on with a 1:21.929s while Piastri was 0.037s in second place and Gasly continue to impress and was 0.072s slower than Russell’s time, slotting in at third, ahead of both Ferraris, Verstappen, Norris and Antonelli. After the first runs from all 10 drivers, Russell was quickest from Piastri and Gasly while Hamilton continued to struggle as he was 0.795s slower than Russell and in P9. 

As the cars went for their final runs, Oscar Piastri had a moment, going off track into the gravel which ruined his lap and his tow of Norris also was ruined that hurt Norris as well. Russell went quicker with a 1:21.846s but it was Pierre Gasly who stunned all with an incredible 1:21.786s, beating Russell by 0.060s to pick up his first pole position of his career. Piastri slotted in third place while Leclerc managed to get his Ferrari to the second row with a fourth place start. 

Q3 was also the closest Q3 in the history of the sport as the Top 10 were separated by half a second!

Starting grid for the Italian Grand Prix 2026 (before penalties applied):

1. Pierre Gasly
2. George Russell
3. Oscar Piastri
4. Charles Lecerc
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. Max Verstappen
7. Kimi Antonelli* (set to take engine penalty and will drop to the back of the grid)
8. Franco Colapinto
9. Lando Norris
10. Arvid Lindblad
11. Gabriel Bortoleto
12. Ollie Bearman
13. Nico Hülkenberg
14. Liam Lawson* (seto to take engine penalty and will drop to the back of the grid) 
15. Carlos Sainz
16. Esteban Ocon
17. Yuki Tsunoda
18. Alex Albon* (seto to take engine penalty and will drop to the back of the grid) 
19. Valtteri Bottas
20. Sergio Pérez
21. Fernando Alonso
22. Lance Stroll