What a few days it has been for Pierre Gasly.
On Friday he lost his third place finish from the Monaco Grand Prix on June 7, then last night he drove his Alpine to pole position. the first of his F1 career.
Let's start with losing his Monaco podium.
Gasly lost the podium to Isack Hadjar for the second time after penalties from the Monaco Grand Prix were reinstated following a successful appeal by two Formula 1 teams.
As a result, Gasly dropped from third to seventh place in the June 7 race after a pair of five-second penalties were applied. Initially, the penalties for speeding infractions had been rescinded one week after the race.
McLaren and Red Bull appealed to the FIA's International Court of Appeal, with a hearing held in Paris on Aug. 25. The decision to reinstate the original finish order was announced Friday.
Red Bull's Hadjar, in turn, and McLaren's Oscar Piastri were elevated to third and fourth, respectively, ahead of the Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad.
"The team expresses its disappointment and frustration with the outcome reached by the FIA International Court of Appeal relating to the result of the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix," Alpine said in a statement.
"While we disagree with the decision, and still fully maintain that (Gasly's) Car 10 did not exceed the Pit Lane speed limit at any point during the race, the team acknowledges the decision of the judging panel from the recent hearing in Paris.
"While the result is not what we had hoped for, as we feel that we have been unjustly punished, the team is firmly focused on continuing to improve its performance on track and remains in a close and very competitive Championship fight. This outcome will not deter the team's efforts and motivation in achieving its objectives by the end of the season."
Now, let's talk about the pole position
Galsy loves Monza. It is the scene of his only win in F1, a stunning upset in 2020 driving for AlphaTauri (now Racing Bulls).
Alpine has been running in the midfield this season, but my word they found some pace in Monza on Saturday.
From the start of qualifying both Alpine drivers, Gasly and Franco Colapinto, were in the top 10, but Gasly was really threatening pole.
On his final flying lap, the Frenchman put it all together. None of his sector times were the overall fastest in the session, but he was the driver who nailed a lap with three excellent sectors to secure a stunning result.
Oscar Piastri qualified third fastest for tonight's Italian Grand Prix.
But an incident in Q2 last night, where the Australian was in the way of Kiwi Liam Lawson when the Red Bull driver was on a flying lap, led to the Aussie copping a three-place grid penalty.
It was tough for Piastri, who had just come out of the pits and really had nowhere to go but be on the apex of the first corner when Lawson was trying to produce a quick lap.
Piastri seemed resigned to the fact he was copping a penalty before it was handed down.
“It was a tricky situation to manage. I was coming out of the pits and got told that Lawson and Verstappen were coming, but I kind of had to jump on the brakes pretty heavily to get out of Max’s way, and then I was just stuck in a very awkward spot with Liam.”
Now starting from the third row, Piastri is hoping for a wild start tonight.
The Australian said he did not believe the McLarens were as quick as Mercedes of Ferrari over longer runs, but was remaining optimistic he can gain positions.
“Looking ahead to tomorrow, our long run pace isn't as quick as the Mercedes and the Ferraris, but the first few laps here are usually chaotic and the fastest car won't necessarily be the one leading after that. It could be an interesting one.”
