Alpine’s Frenchman set a 1:21.786 on his last attempt and beat Russell by 0.060s; Bortoleto reacted after difficulties in practice but lost his Q3 spot to Hamilton by just one thousandth.
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Pierre Gasly secured pole position for the Italian GP, the 13th round of the 2026 Formula 1 season. In an extremely competitive qualifying session this Saturday (5), in Monza, the Alpine driver set a 1:21.786 on his last attempt in Q3 and took the top spot from George Russell, who had been the main name of the weekend.
Russell took second place after leading much of Q3, while Oscar Piastri finished third. Charles Leclerc secured fourth position, followed by Lewis Hamilton. Max Verstappen was sixth, with Kimi Antonelli seventh, Franco Colapinto eighth, Lando Norris ninth, and Arvid Lindblad completing the top 10.
Gabriel Bortoleto came very close to competing in the final phase. After advancing through Q1 and again beating Nico Hülkenberg, the Brazilian briefly held a provisional spot in Q3. Lewis Hamilton improved in the final seconds and knocked Bortoleto out, who responded on his last attempt but was eliminated by just 0.001s.
Antonelli’s position in the qualifying results does not represent his starting position on Sunday. The championship leader has a penalty for power unit component changes and will start from the back of the grid. Liam Lawson also received a power unit-related penalty and will start from the back.
Qualifying
The grid definition began with George Russell pointed out as the main name for pole position. The Mercedes driver had led both Friday’s FP2 and FP3 held a few hours before qualifying, where he set a 1:22.219.
The gap between the main contenders, however, indicated a much more open session. Hamilton finished the last practice 0.226s behind Russell, while Verstappen, Antonelli, Norris, and Leclerc were also separated by less than half a second.
Monza added another ingredient to the battle: the slipstream.
With its huge straights, the Italian circuit offers significant gains for those who can position their car behind an opponent or teammate. In FP3, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Audi had already tried different strategies. Antonelli helped Russell, Hamilton and Leclerc worked together, while Hülkenberg provided a slipstream for Bortoleto.
For the Brazilian, qualifying started surrounded by doubts. Bortoleto had been eighth in FP1, dropped to 15th in FP2, and finished FP3 only 13th.
The main problem during practice was extracting performance from the soft tires. In FP3, Gabriel even appeared sixth using mediums and receiving a slipstream from Hülkenberg, but did not find the same performance jump when switching to the faster compound.
Q1: Gasly leads and Bortoleto advances
The green light came on at 11 a.m. Brasília time, starting Q1.
The drivers began leaving the pits and the slipstream game appeared immediately. Lindblad helped Tsunoda, Gasly worked ahead of Colapinto, and at Audi, Hülkenberg provided a slipstream for Bortoleto.
Gabriel made good use of his first attempt. The Brazilian put together a good lap and got close to the two Ferraris on the leaderboard.
Verstappen was one of the first favorites to set a strong reference and took the lead with 1:22.631.
Mercedes took a little longer to get on track and adopted different strategies between its two cars. Antonelli went out on soft tires, while Russell started his work on mediums.
Antonelli set 1:22.758 and Russell came shortly after with 1:22.779.
But the big surprise at that moment was Alpine.
Colapinto set 1:22.662 and appeared third. Shortly after, Gasly was even better and took the lead with 1:22.612, beating Verstappen.
Leclerc improved to 1:22.902, while Verstappen showed enough confidence in his time to leave the car without intending to make another attempt.
In the final minutes, the situation started to get more delicate for drivers near the elimination zone.
Lawson set 1:22.989 and advanced to tenth, while almost everyone else began preparing for a last run.
Alonso did not even have the chance to react. The Spaniard got out of the car, took off his gloves, and ended his participation early.
When the pack returned to the track, traffic increased drastically. Once again, Hülkenberg positioned himself to provide a slipstream to Bortoleto.
Norris, who was only 11th, responded under pressure and set 1:22.659, jumping to third. Lindblad also found a strong lap and reached 1:22.727.
Bortoleto managed to improve and confirmed his presence in Q2. The Brazilian finished the first phase in 12th, about half a second ahead of Hülkenberg.
Gasly ended Q1 in first place, followed by Verstappen, Norris, Colapinto, and Lindblad.
Eliminated were Yuki Tsunoda, Alexander Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Pérez, Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll.
Q2: Bortoleto enters the fight for Q3
Q2 started with Red Bull immediately putting its strategy into practice.
Lawson went out ahead of Verstappen to provide a slipstream for his teammate. Sainz also appeared close to the duo, trying to position himself to take advantage of the same effect.
Verstappen set the first reference with 1:22.573.
After a short period with the track practically empty, almost all drivers decided to go out simultaneously. The result was a concentration of cars trying to find space to start their laps without missing the chance to receive a slipstream.
Russell initially took the lead with 1:22.161.
Gasly responded with 1:22.126.
Norris then lowered to 1:22.067, but the lead changed again seconds later when Piastri put the McLaren in front with 1:22.017.
Bortoleto completed his first attempt in 1:22.566 and appeared ninth at that moment.
The Brazilian was therefore directly in the fight for a Q3 spot.
Lindblad set 1:22.345 and Colapinto reached 1:22.403, while some of the main contenders faced an unexpected situation.
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Verstappen appeared only tenth and Leclerc was eighth. The Dutchman responded on his next attempt, set 1:22.188, and advanced to fifth.
Three minutes before the flag, Hamilton was among the eliminated.
Bortoleto, on the other hand, was provisionally classified for Q3.
One thousandth separates Bortoleto from Q3
Everyone returned to the track for the last attempt.
Lawson took advantage of Verstappen’s slipstream and managed to improve but remained 13th at that moment. The elimination also meant the driver would not be available to help Verstappen in Q3.
The race direction also noted an incident between Piastri and Lawson at Turn 1 for possible obstruction. Later, the stewards informed that the episode would be investigated after the session.
Up front, Antonelli found a great lap and took the lead in Q2. Russell, on the other hand, could not improve.
But the most dramatic battle was on the edge of the top 10.
Hamilton needed to improve to stay in qualifying.
The Ferrari driver managed to find time on his last lap and pushed Bortoleto out of the qualifying zone.
Gabriel was still on a flying lap.
The Brazilian responded and also improved, setting 1:22.517.
When the time appeared, the difference was minimal: Bortoleto was just 0.001 behind Hamilton and the last spot for Q3.
Thus, the Brazilian finished qualifying in 11th, ahead of Bearman, Hülkenberg, Lawson, Sainz, and Ocon.
Elimination by a single thousandth ended a recovery qualifying for Bortoleto. After difficulties extracting performance from the soft tires in practice, the Brazilian managed to make the compound work in the decisive session, advanced through Q1, and again beat Hülkenberg.
Antonelli finished Q2 in front, followed by Piastri, Norris, and Gasly. Russell, Verstappen, Lindblad, Colapinto, Leclerc, and Hamilton also secured places in the final phase.
Eliminated were Bortoleto, Bearman, Hülkenberg, Lawson, Sainz, and Ocon.
Q3: Antonelli works for Russell
Ten drivers remained for the 13 decisive minutes of qualifying.
Mercedes had a peculiar strategic situation.
Antonelli was already carrying a penalty for power unit component changes and knew he would start from the back of the grid on Sunday. His qualifying position was therefore less important for the race.
Mercedes took advantage of the situation to put him at Russell’s service.
When the cars went out on track, different teams organized their drivers in pairs. Antonelli went out ahead of Russell, Norris helped Piastri, and Gasly worked for Colapinto.
Antonelli took his role to the limit: he provided a slipstream for Russell and then aborted his own lap.
The strategy worked. Russell set 1:21.929 and took the lead.
Piastri appeared immediately behind with 1:21.966, just 0.037 slower.
Gasly continued to show that his speed was not circumstantial and set 1:22.001, appearing third.
Leclerc came practically together, recording 1:22.004.
The top four were separated by less than a tenth.
Verstappen set 1:22.070, while Hamilton had a poor first attempt and appeared only with 1:22.724.
Even in the lead, Russell complained about the car’s behavior. The Brit reported over the radio that the front tires were locking and that the Mercedes showed instability at high speed.
Antonelli later returned alone to the track to finally complete his own attempt. The Italian set 1:22.093.
Only the last attack remained.
Gasly snatches pole from Russell
Less than three minutes from the end, the ten drivers returned to the track.
The order was Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Antonelli, Russell, Lindblad, Leclerc, Hamilton, Gasly, and Colapinto.
Once again, positioning and possible slipstreams would be crucial.
Piastri lost his chance right at the first braking. The Australian made a mistake and compromised his lap.
Antonelli also abandoned his attempt.
Norris could not improve.
Verstappen likewise did not find the time needed to threaten the top spot.
Russell, on the other hand, managed to lower his time and set 1:21.846.
After leading FP2 and FP3, commanding the first sequence of laps in Q3, and still improving in the final attack, the Brit seemed very close to confirming pole position.
But Gasly was still on a flying lap.
The Frenchman completed an almost perfect attempt and crossed the line in 1:21.786. Pole position for Pierre Gasly. The difference to Russell was just 0.060s.
Piastri remained third with 1:21.966, while Leclerc secured fourth place with 1:22.004.
Hamilton reacted on the last attempt and set 1:22.011, moving up to fifth.
Verstappen was sixth, followed by Antonelli. Colapinto confirmed Alpine’s strong performance by finishing eighth, with Norris ninth and Lindblad closing the top 10.
Gasly, therefore, turned the speed shown since Q1 into a surprising pole position at the decisive moment.
After Mercedes led much of the weekend, the Frenchman found the six hundredths needed to beat Russell and put Alpine in the spotlight in Monza.
The Italian GP will be held this Sunday (6), starting at 10 a.m. Brasília time, for 53 laps in Monza.
Italian GP Qualifying Result*:
1) Pierre Gasly (Alpine), 1:21.786
2) George Russell (Mercedes), 1:21.846
3) Oscar Piastri (McLaren), 1:21.966
4) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 1:22.004
5) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), 1:22.011
6) Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 1:22.070
7) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), 1:22.093
8) Franco Colapinto (Alpine), 1:22.220
9) Lando Norris (McLaren), 1:22.256
10) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls), 1:22.286
11) Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi), 1:22.517
12) Oliver Bearman (Haas), 1:22.756
13) Nico Hülkenberg (Audi), 1:22.779
14) Liam Lawson (Red Bull), 1:22.821
15) Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams), 1:23.453
16) Esteban Ocon (Haas), 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
* grid penalties not yet applied
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