The Alpine’s Frenchman nailed a 1:21.786 on his final run and edged Russell by 0.060s; Bortoleto reacted after difficulties in practice but missed out on a spot in Q3 to Hamilton by just one thousandth.
Pierre Gasly clinched pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, the 13th round of the 2026 Formula 1 season. In a fiercely contested qualifying on Saturday (5) at Monza, the Alpine driver posted 1:21.786 on his last attempt in Q3, taking the lead from George Russell, who had been the standout name of the weekend.
Russell clinched second place after leading much of Q3, while Oscar Piastri finished third. Charles Leclerc secured fourth, followed by Lewis Hamilton. Max Verstappen ended sixth, with Kimi Antonelli seventh, Franco Colapinto eighth, Lando Norris ninth and Arvid Lindblad completing the top 10.
Gabriel Bortoleto was very close to reaching the decisive phase. After advancing through Q1 and once again beating Nico Hülkenberg, the Brazilian briefly held a provisional spot in Q3. Lewis Hamilton improved in the closing seconds and knocked Bortoleto down, who answered on his last attempt but was eliminated by a mere 0.001 seconds.
The position of Antonelli in the classification results does not reflect his Sunday starting grid. 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.
Classification
The grid formation started with George Russell tipped as the main name for pole position. The Mercedes driver had led both the FP2 on Friday and FP3 conducted just hours before qualifying, when he clocked 1:22.219.
The gap between the top contenders, however, signaled a session far more open. Hamilton finished the final practice 0.226s behind Russell, while Verstappen, Antonelli, Norris and Leclerc were also within less than half a second.
Monza added another ingredient to the dispute: the tow.
With its long straights, the Italian circuit offers significant gains to those who can position their car behind an opponent or teammate. In FP3, Mercedes, Ferrari and Audi had already tested different strategies. Antonelli helped Russell, Hamilton and Leclerc work together, while Hülkenberg provided tow for Bortoleto.
For the Brazilian, qualifying began surrounded by doubts. Bortoleto had been eighth in FP1, dropped to 15th in FP2, and finished FP3 in 13th.
The main problem during practice had been extracting performance from the soft tires. In FP3, Gabriel had appeared sixth using the medium tires and receiving tow from Hülkenberg, but did not find the same jump in performance when switching to the faster compound.
Q1: Gasly leads and Bortoleto advances
The green light appeared at 11:00 a.m., Brasília time, signaling the start of Q1.
The drivers began to leave the boxes and the tow game appeared immediately. Lindblad helped Tsunoda, Gasly worked ahead of Colapinto and, in Audi, Hülkenberg provided tow for Bortoleto.
Gabriel made good use of his first attempt. The Brazilian delivered a solid lap and briefly sat close to the two Ferraris on the timesheets.
Verstappen was one of the first favorites to set a strong reference and took the lead with 1:22.631.
The Mercedes team took a bit longer to hit the track and adopted different strategies between their two cars. Antonelli left on soft tires, while Russell started his work on mediums.
Antonelli posted 1:22.758 and Russell came next with 1:22.779.
But the big surprise at that moment was Alpine.
Colapinto posted 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 climb out of the car without planning another attempt.
In the final minutes, the situation began to become delicate for drivers near the elimination zone.
Lawson clocked 1:22.989 and advanced to tenth, while almost all the others began preparing for one last run.
Alonso did not even have a chance to react. The Spaniard left the car, removed his gloves and ended his participation early.
When the pack returned to the track, traffic increased drastically. Once again, Hülkenberg positioned himself to provide tow for 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 ended the first phase in 12th, about half a second ahead of Hülkenberg.
Gasly finished Q1 in first position, followed by Verstappen, Norris, Colapinto and Lindblad.
Were eliminated Yuki Tsunoda, Alexander Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Pérez, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
Q2: Bortoleto enters the fight for Q3
Q2 began with Red Bull immediately putting its strategy into action.
Lawson led ahead of Verstappen to provide tow to his teammate. Sainz also appeared close to the pair, trying to position himself to benefit from the same effect.
Verstappen set the first reference with 1:22.573.
After a short spell with the track virtually empty, almost all the drivers decided to go out simultaneously. The result was a cluster of cars trying to find space to open their laps without losing the chance to receive tow.
Russell initially took the lead with 1:22.161.
Gasly replied with 1:22.126.
Norris then dropped to 1:22.067, but the lead changed again seconds later when Piastri put McLaren on top with 1:22.017.
Bortoleto completed his first run in 1:22.566 and appeared ninth at that moment.
The Brazilian was, therefore, right in the battle for a spot in Q3.
Lindblad clocked 1:22.345 and Colapinto reached 1:22.403, while some of the top contenders faced an unexpected situation.
Verstappen appeared only tenth and Leclerc was eighth. The Dutchman responded on his next attempt, posting 1:22.188 and moving to fifth.
With three minutes to the flag, Hamilton appeared among those in danger of being eliminated.
Bortoleto, on the other hand, was provisionally in line for Q3.
One thousandth separates Bortoleto from Q3
All returned to the track for the final attempt.
Lawson took advantage of Verstappen’s tow and managed to improve, but remained 13th at that moment. The elimination also meant the driver would not be available to aid Verstappen in Q3.
The race control also noted an incident between Piastri and Lawson at Turn 1 for possible impediment. Subsequently, the stewards said the episode would be investigated after the session.
At the front, Antonelli delivered a big lap and took the lead in Q2. Russell, on the other hand, could not improve.
But the most dramatic battle was at the edge of the top 10.
Hamilton needed to improve to remain on the classification.
The Ferrari driver managed to find time on his final lap and pushed Bortoleto out of the classification zone.
Gabriel was still on a quick lap.
The Brazilian answered and also improved, setting 1:22.517.
When the time came, the difference was razor-thin: Bortoleto was only 0.001 seconds behind Hamilton and the last spot for Q3.
Thus, the Brazilian ended qualifying in 11th, ahead of Bearman, Hülkenberg, Lawson, Sainz and Ocon.
The elimination by a single thousandth closed a recovery session for Bortoleto. After struggles to extract 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 a place in the decisive phase.
Eliminated were Bortoleto, Bearman, Hülkenberg, Lawson, Sainz and Ocon.
Q3: Antonelli works for Russell
There were ten drivers left for the 13-minute shootout.
The Mercedes team faced a peculiar strategic situation.
Antonelli was already carrying a penalty for power unit component changes and knew he would start at the back of the grid on Sunday. His position in the qualifying had therefore less importance for the race.
The Mercedes team took advantage of the situation to have him serve Russell.
When the cars hit the track, different teams lined up their drivers in pairs. Antonelli went out ahead of Russell, Norris helped Piastri and Gasly worked for Colapinto.
Antonelli pushed his role to the limit: provided tow for Russell and then aborted his own lap.
The strategy worked. Russell set 1:21.929 and took the lead.
Piastri immediately followed with 1:21.966, just 0.037 slower.
Gasly continued to show that his speed was not a fluke and clocked 1:22.001, appearing third.
Leclerc came in virtually together, recording 1:22.004.
The top four were separated by less than a tenth.
Verstappen clocked 1:22.070, while Hamilton had a poor first run and appeared only with 1:22.724.
Even in the lead, Russell complained about the car’s behavior. The Briton reported over the radio that the front tires were locking and that the Mercedes showed instability at high speed.
Antonelli later returned to the track alone to finally complete his own attempt. The Italian posted 1:22.093.
There remained only one last attack.
Gasly claims pole from Russell
With less than three minutes to go, the ten drivers returned to the track.
The order was Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Antonelli, Russell, Lindblad, Leclerc, Hamilton, Gasly and Colapinto.
Again, positioning and potential tow would be crucial.
Piastri lost his chance right at the first braking zone. The Australian made a mistake and compromised his lap.
Antonelli also aborted his attempt.
Norris could not improve.
Verstappen likewise could not find the time to threaten the top position.
Russell, on the other hand, managed to lower his time and set 1:21.846.
After leading FP2 and FP3, heading the early Q3 laps and still improving in the final push, the Briton seemed very close to confirming pole.
But Gasly was still on a quick lap.
The Frenchman delivered an almost flawless lap and crossed the line at 1:21.786. Pole position for Pierre Gasly. The margin over Russell was just 0.060s.
Piastri remained third with 1:21.966, while Leclerc secured fourth with 1:22.004.
Hamilton reacted on the final attempt and posted 1:22.011, moving to fifth.
Verstappen finished sixth, followed by Antonelli. Colapinto confirmed Alpine’s strong pace by finishing eighth, with Norris ninth and Lindblad rounding out the top 10.
Gasly, therefore, converted 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 place Alpine on the coveted Monza pole.
The Italian Grand Prix will be contested on Sunday (6), with a start at 10:00 a.m., Brasília time, for 53 laps at Monza.
Qualifying results for the Italian Grand Prix*:
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
* still without grid penalties applied
