Pierre Gasly takes pole for the 2026 Italian Grand Prix
Gasly set 1:21.786, 0.060 seconds clear of George Russell. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli qualified P7.
Pierre Gasly took pole for the 2026 Italian Grand Prix with 1:21.786 for Alpine, 0.060 seconds clear of George Russell. It is Gasly's first pole of the season.
At Autodromo Nazionale Monza, championship leader Kimi Antonelli will line up from P7 on the qualifying order.
In the standings, George Russell trails by 59 points going into the race and qualified P2.
The front of the grid
George Russell joins Gasly on the front row, 1:21.846 to Gasly's 1:21.786, with Oscar Piastri P3 at 0.180 seconds.
The gap from pole to P10 was 0.500 seconds.
- GASPOLE
- RUS+0.060s
- PIA+0.180s
- LEC+0.218s
- HAM+0.225s
- VER+0.284s
- ANT+0.307s
- COL+0.434s
- NOR+0.470s
- LIN+0.500s
Team by team
At Alpine, Gasly qualified P1 and Colapinto P8, a gap of 0.434 seconds where both set a time. Mercedes: Russell P2, Antonelli P7, 0.247 seconds apart in the deepest segment both completed. At McLaren, Piastri qualified P3 and Norris P9, a gap of 0.290 seconds where both set a time.
Ferrari: Leclerc P4, Hamilton P5, 0.007 seconds apart in the deepest segment both completed. At Red Bull Racing, Verstappen qualified P6 and Lawson P14, a gap of 0.633 seconds where both set a time.
The cut lines
In Q2, six drivers went out: Gabriel Bortoleto, Oliver Bearman, Nico Hülkenberg, Liam Lawson, Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon. Q1 accounted for six: Yuki Tsunoda, Alexander Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Pérez, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. Neither Cadillac car made it out of Q1 at Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
The season picture inside the teams
At Alpine, Gasly now leads Colapinto 10–3 in qualifying this season, with a median gap of 0.31%; the race head-to-head with both classified is 9–3. At Mercedes, Antonelli now leads Russell 7–6 in qualifying this season, with a median gap of 0.24%; the race head-to-head with both classified is 7–3. Every pairing, including these after round 13, is in every teammate battle.
What it means for the championship
Kimi Antonelli leads the championship on 242 points, 59 points ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell, with 11 rounds to run including this one. One driver can still score 283 points, and 23 drivers remain in mathematical reach. The lead has grown from 41 points after round 7.
The circuit and the data
History here offers a measure of what pole is worth. Of the classified races at Autodromo Nazionale Monza in our archive, 26 of 75 were won from pole and 39 of 75 from the front row. The most recent, the 2025 Italian Grand Prix, went to Max Verstappen from P1. Last time here, Max Verstappen started from pole and finished P1. That is a record of past races, not a forecast for this one.
Gasly's Qualifying Pace sits at the 94th percentile in the 2025–2026 Driver DNA window, which measures each driver against a teammate and is the strongest dimension of that profile.
For Russell, the strongest Driver DNA dimension is Qualifying Pace, at the 90th percentile.
Qualifying classification
The full order with every segment time, as published.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:22.612 | 1:22.077 | 1:21.786 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:22.779 | 1:22.161 | 1:21.846 |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:22.924 | 1:22.017 | 1:21.966 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:22.902 | 1:22.509 | 1:22.004 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:22.847 | 1:22.516 | 1:22.011 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 1:22.631 | 1:22.188 | 1:22.070 |
| 7 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:22.758 | 1:21.882 | 1:22.093 |
| 8 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1:22.662 | 1:22.400 | 1:22.220 |
| 9 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:22.659 | 1:22.067 | 1:22.256 |
| 10 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 1:22.727 | 1:22.345 | 1:22.286 |
| 11 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1:22.946 | 1:22.517 | — |
| 12 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1:22.906 | 1:22.756 | — |
| 13 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | 1:23.440 | 1:22.779 | — |
| 14 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull Racing | 1:22.989 | 1:22.821 | — |
| 15 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 1:23.616 | 1:23.453 | — |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 1:23.466 | 1:23.454 | — |
| 17 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls | 1:23.755 | — | — |
| 18 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 1:24.356 | — | — |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 1:24.364 | — | — |
| 20 | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac | 1:24.595 | — | — |
| 21 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:25.150 | — | — |
| 22 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:25.222 | — | — |
What's next
The race starts on 6 September 2026. Results land on the 2026 Italian Grand Prix page, PBEcast follows the session live, and the standings, form and teammate views sit in 2026 championship standings, form guide and every teammate battle.
Evidence & methodology
Every number and name in this story comes from a frozen fact packet built from the PropSports F1 data plane. The draft passed the factual gate (no unsupported numbers, names, causes or outcomes) and the editorial gate before publication.
Limits
- Driver DNA is quoted from the 2025–2026 window as of publication, not as it stood before this event.
- Sector times, tyre choices and track conditions are not sourced. The starting grid can differ from qualifying when penalties apply; this story describes qualifying only.
Facts used (51)
- Event: 2026 Italian Grand Prix (projection: events)
- Championship round: round 13 (projection: events)
- Pierre Gasly best qualifying lap: 1:21.786 (projection: qualifying classification)
- George Russell best qualifying lap: 1:21.846 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Oscar Piastri qualifying position: P3 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Pole margin over second: 0.060 seconds (derived: difference from q1_lap, q2_lap)
- Third place gap to pole: 0.180 seconds (derived: difference from q1_lap, q3_lap)
- Championship leader qualifying position: P7 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Poles this season including this one: first pole of the season (derived: our qualifying archive)
- Driver DNA Qualifying Pace (2025–2026): 94th percentile (projection: dna-driver)
- Leader points before this round: 242 points (projection: standings progression)
- George Russell deficit to the leader: 59 points (derived: difference from leader_points, c2_points)
- Rounds remaining including this one: 11 rounds (projection: events)
- Most points one driver can still score: 283 points (derived: rounds × race maximum + sprints × sprint maximum from rounds_left, sprints_left, race_max)
- Drivers who can still mathematically reach the leader: 23 (derived: points + max_left ≥ leader points from max_left)
- Championship lead after round 7: 41 points (projection: standings progression)
- Comparison round: round 7 (projection: standings progression)
- Second in the championship: qualifying position: P2 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Earlier races here won from pole: 26 of 75 (derived: our race archive)
- Earlier races here won from the front row: 39 of 75 (derived: our race archive)
- Winner's grid slot in 2025: P1 (derived: our race archive)
- Tenth place: P10 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Gap from pole to tenth: 0.500 seconds (derived: difference from q1_lap, qualifying classification)
- Pierre Gasly qualifying position: P1 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Franco Colapinto qualifying position: P8 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Alpine intra-team gap in Q3: 0.434 seconds (derived: q3_ms difference from qualifying classification)
- George Russell qualifying position: P2 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Kimi Antonelli qualifying position: P7 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Mercedes intra-team gap in Q3: 0.247 seconds (derived: q3_ms difference from qualifying classification)
- Oscar Piastri qualifying position: P3 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Lando Norris qualifying position: P9 (projection: qualifying classification)
- McLaren intra-team gap in Q3: 0.290 seconds (derived: q3_ms difference from qualifying classification)
- Charles Leclerc qualifying position: P4 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Lewis Hamilton qualifying position: P5 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Ferrari intra-team gap in Q3: 0.007 seconds (derived: q3_ms difference from qualifying classification)
- Max Verstappen qualifying position: P6 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Liam Lawson qualifying position: P14 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Red Bull Racing intra-team gap in Q2: 0.633 seconds (derived: q2_ms difference from qualifying classification)
- Drivers eliminated in Q1: six (projection: qualifying classification)
- Drivers eliminated in Q2: six (projection: qualifying classification)
- Alpine qualifying head-to-head this season (leader first): 10–3 (derived: qualifying classification)
- Alpine race head-to-head this season, both classified (leader first): 9–3 (derived: race classification)
- Alpine median qualifying gap this season: 0.31% (derived: qualifying classification)
- Mercedes qualifying head-to-head this season (leader first): 7–6 (derived: qualifying classification)
- Mercedes race head-to-head this season, both classified (leader first): 7–3 (derived: race classification)
- Mercedes median qualifying gap this season: 0.24% (derived: qualifying classification)
- 2025 pole-sitter race result here: P1 (derived: our race archive)
- Driver DNA window: 2025–2026 (projection: dna-driver)
- George Russell strongest Driver DNA dimension: Qualifying Pace (projection: dna-driver)
- George Russell Qualifying Pace percentile: 90th percentile (projection: dna-driver)
- Race start: 6 September 2026 (projection: sessions)