Pierre Gasly claims first Formula One pole at Monza after turbulent two days

Pierre Gasly has run the gamut from bitter disappointment to absolute elation in the past two days, and there is surely no better pick-me-up than claiming an extraordinary first Formula One pole position at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, one of the sport’s greatest venues.

What it meant to the Frenchman was clear. “Nine years I’ve been in Formula One, I’m trying to give my best every single weekend. It’s not every time we get a car to fight for pole position,” he said. “Today was the case. I’m really happy, really proud to have seized this chance and made it work. It was a hell of a lap.”

On Thursday, Gasly and Alpine were told his third place at the Monaco Grand Prix had been overturned by the FIA’s international court of appeal (ICA), after McLaren and Red Bull had taken the case there. Gasly had been stripped of his podium and it hurt; indeed led to Alpine’s executive adviser, Flavio Briatore, making extraordinary allegations of pro-McLaren bias by one of the ICA judges.

The allegations were addressed by the ICA on Saturday but the response Gasly would have wanted most was on track, and he and Alpine delivered to perfection. Steve Nielsen, the Alpine managing director, perhaps best expressed what it meant. “We were all on the floor. It’s from being really down to being on top of the world in just two days,” he said. “Pierre is a class act: if you give him the machine, he will deliver.”

The 30-year-old Frenchman, who lives nearby in Milan, has finally taken the top spot at his 190th meeting, during his ninth full season in F1. They have waited a long time in France too, with 29 years passing since Jean Alesi was the last Frenchman to take pole at Monza. With pleasing symmetry, he was driving for Benetton, the Enstone-based team that would ultimately become Alpine.

On a high-speed blast at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza the margins are tiny, and finding the very limit vital; indeed Gasly’s margin over the second-placed Mercedes of George Russell was just six-hundredths of a second. Gasly was on a knife-edge but inch perfect to secure what was also Alpine’s first pole. It represents a huge result for the team who are sixth in the world championship and have not been close to vying with the front four constructors this season.

In a very tightly fought contest, the McLaren of Oscar Piastri was third fastest, but he was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Liam Lawson. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were in fourth and fifth, with the latter saying he thought his title chance might be slipping away. Lando Norris – the defending world champion and winner of the past two races – was in ninth.

Russell, who had been favourite to take the top spot was disappointed but took it well, admitting it was the second time that day Gasly had bested him. “We were actually playing a game of chess about 15 minutes before qualifying,” he said. “He beat me there and I thought: ‘Well, I think I’ll beat you in qualifying,’ and here we are, he’s ahead of me again.”

Although he took seventh place, the championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, will start in 20th having taken a full set of new engine components, with Mercedes opting to do so at Monza because of the ample scope for overtaking at the circuit. They are hopeful he might come back to as high as fifth place, while Russell will be intent on making back a decent haul of points against his teammate. Antonelli leads Russell and Hamilton by 59 points.

But the day belonged to Gasly and the Frenchman has shown form at Monza before, taking his only win here in 2020 in a race influenced by a well-timed pit stop and Hamilton, the pole-sitter, receiving a penalty. This pole was earned entirely on merit, but with the Mercedes likely to be formidable on race pace converting it will be a huge task, though doubtless not one from which the Frenchman will shirk.

Before qualifying, the ICA issued a stern rebuttal to Briatore’s allegations. His comments alleged a judge, whom he named, had acted as a “prosecutor” and said: “The reason why so nasty, this guy. He is very linked with McLaren.” It prompted a fierce row, with the McLaren principal, Andrea Stella, dismissing the comments as “insulting” to his team.

The ICA, which acts independently of the FIA, pointedly noted that Alpine had every chance to question the appointment of the judges but did not do so and that they were carefully selected.

“At both the beginning and conclusion of the hearing, the parties were invited to raise any issue concerning the proceedings or the composition of the court,” the statement said. “None did so. No objection was raised during the hearing concerning the manner in which the court questioned the witness or conducted the proceedings.

“The FIA courts wish to make clear that the appointment and participation of the judges in that case, like for any other case, were conducted in accordance with the applicable FIA judicial procedures and usual practice, which are inspired by the highest standards like the International Bar Association guidelines on conflicts of interest in international arbitration.

“They are all subject to the independence and confidentiality requirements contained in the FIA judicial and disciplinary rules, make annual disclosures of interests to the FIA compliance officer, and sign a specific declaration of independence for each particular case in consideration of the issue at stake and the parties involved, which is served to the parties.”