By Alan Baldwin
MONZA, Italy, Sept 5 (Reuters) - French Formula One driver Pierre Gasly upset the favourites to grab a stunning career-first pole position with Renault-owned Alpine at the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday.
Gasly, who won at Monza with Red Bull-owned AlphaTauri (now Racing Bulls) in 2020 and lives in nearby Milan, seized pole from Mercedes's George Russell with his final effort and a lap of one minute 21.786 seconds -- 0.060 quicker than the Briton.
"It's been nine years trying to chase
the opportunity to get a pole," said Gasly, who was the last of the pole contenders to complete his final flying lap. "I won my first race in Monza and got my first pole at this track. It's something special around here."
Gasly had already hinted at something special in the earlier phases, leading Q1 and fourth fastest in Q2, and his mechanics erupted in jubilation as the pole was confirmed -- a day after he had been stripped of third place at last June's Monaco Grand Prix.
The pole was also the first for Renault's team since they became Alpine in 2021.
PIASTRI THIRD AND LECLERC FOURTH ON THE GRID
Russell, a title contender, hailed an incredible performance by the 30-year-old Frenchman in his 190th start.
"We were finishing a game of chess about 15 minutes before qualifying and he beat me there and I went 'well, I think I will beat you in qualifying' and here we are, he's ahead of me again," said the Briton.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri qualified third at the 'Temple of Speed' but was then handed a three-place drop for impeding Red Bull's Liam Lawson.
That created an all-Ferrari second row with Charles Leclerc, a two-time winner of his team's home race, directly behind Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton in fourth after the seven-time world champion had sneaked into the final phase by the skin of his teeth -- 0.001 of a second.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen, last year's race winner, will line-up fifth with Piastri sixth.
Mercedes's championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who is 59 points clear of Russell and Hamilton, qualified seventh but will go to the back due to engine penalties.
That lifted Alpine's Franco Colapinto to seventh instead with McLaren's reigning world champion Lando Norris, winner of the previous two races, eighth on the grid.
Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad and Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top 10.
RUSSELL'S BIG CHANCE TO CUT THE GAP
Sunday is Russell's big opportunity to cut the gap to Antonelli, although he too will have to take a similar engine penalty later in the season and probably in Azerbaijan later this month.
Antonelli obeyed orders and did his best to help Russell by providing a tow but will be champing for points, even if a podium looks a long shot too far.
Monza is the fastest track on the calendar, with slipstreaming opportunities and chances to overtake, and how long Gasly can stay ahead is the big question even if he does have a car with the same Mercedes engine.
Russell was on provisional pole after the first flying laps, with Gasly only third, and team boss Toto Wolff suggested Verstappen had cost him the fraction of a second needed.
"You always need to take everybody seriously. They (Alpine) have a huge amount of straight-line speed. They’ve taken away a lot of drag and on a single lap, that proved to be what is necessary," said Wolff. "The race is a completely different ball game, so we shall see."
The main drama before the final seconds was caused by Hamilton, still outside the top 10 with three minutes to go in Q2 before hauling himself to safety while Bortoleto missed out by the slimmest of margins.
Ferrari fans gathered in their tens of thousands around the circuit breathed a sigh of relief but Saturday already looked like damage limitation for the Italian team, with hopes of doing better on Sunday.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Clare Fallon)
