Alpine’s Pierre Gasly stuns with first career F1 pole at Italian GP

May 23, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CANADA; Alpine driver Pierre Gasly (10) during the qualifying session of the Lenovo Grand Prix Du Canada at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images Pierre Gasly earned his first F1 pole position on Saturday with a stellar qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix. The French Alpine racer hasn't finished higher than sixth this season, though his one career win on the circuit back in 2020 came in this same race. The 30-year-old utilized a recently updated Mercedes engine to run an impressive final qualifying lap of 1:21.786, surging him past Mercedes' George Russell (1:21.846) and McLaren's Oscar Piastri (1:21.966), who had been 1-2. Piastri was later dropped from third to sixth for impeding Liam Lawson. The penalty moved Charles Leclerc (1:22.004), Lewis Hamilton (1:22.011) and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen each up one place on the grid to third, fourth and fifth. Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes qualified seventh but will start in the rear Sunday because of his team's earlier decision to install new engine components. The rest of the top 10, in order, are Alpine's Franco Colapinto, McLaren's Lando Norris, Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad and Audi's Gabriel Bortoletto. --Field Level Media