Pierre Gasly takes his first Formula 1 pole at Monza, 0.060 seconds ahead of Russell

Pierre Gasly put an Alpine on pole for the Italian Grand Prix on 5 September with a lap of 1 minute 21.786 seconds. George Russell's Mercedes was 0.060 seconds slower. Oscar Piastri's McLaren was 0.180 seconds back. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton put the two Ferraris fourth and fifth in front of their own crowd.

It is Gasly's first pole in Formula 1. It is also the first pole for a French driver since Jean Alesi, in a Benetton, at this race in 1997. Alpine is the current name of that Renault-owned team. Gasly already had his only grand prix win here, in 2020, driving for Red Bull's junior team. He lives in Milan, minutes from the circuit. After the session he said he had won his first race at Monza and now had his first pole at the same place.

The final lap was a tow problem as much as a flying-lap problem. Gasly asked Alpine for cars ahead of him. He found a slipstream behind Hamilton and did not waste it. Russell had used Max Verstappen's Red Bull for his own tow and still came up 60 thousandths short. Franco Colapinto, Gasly's teammate, helped with the earlier traffic that Alpine needed.

Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader, qualified seventh and will start at the back. He took a new engine and accepted a grid penalty of 30 places. That fact reshapes Sunday. Russell, his Mercedes teammate, now has a clear run at points Antonelli cannot reach from last. Verstappen starts behind the Ferraris. Lando Norris, the other McLaren and the reigning world champion, qualified ninth after a messy session.

The timing added a small sting. A day earlier the FIA Court of Appeal had restored a Monaco penalty and taken away Gasly's third-place finish from June. Saturday repaired the week.

Monza rewards a straight-line car and a well-timed slipstream. Alpine has not been a pole car in this era. That is why the garage reaction ran hotter than a second-place would have. Gasly's Q1 time had already been the fastest in the first segment. Q2 left him fourth. Q3 was the only lap that mattered.

Sunday's race will not be decided by 0.060 seconds. It will be decided by who keeps the tow down the main straight into the Rettifilo and who can still stop at the first chicane after 50 laps. Antonelli starting last means the title leader will spend the afternoon in traffic. Russell starting second means Mercedes can force the issue at Turn 1.

Gasly starts first because he asked for a tow and then drove a clean lap. That is the whole trick at this track. It has been 29 years since a French driver did it here. The record book now has a new line under Alesi.