New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nThis is Gasly\u2019s 10th season of Formula 1. He\u2019d never previously qualified higher than fourth and has never started higher than second.<\/p>\n
Alpine had been enduring a similarly interminable drought. It had been 17 years since a car built in Enstone, UK, had last started from pole, dating back to Fernando Alonso\u2019s 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying-topping performance, when the team was still known as Renault.<\/p>\n
This sensational lap had been a long time coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuite a lot of emotions,\u201d Gasly enthused. \u201cI\u2019m just extremely happy for the whole team. I\u2019m extremely happy with our performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been nine years I\u2019m in Formula 1 trying to give my best absolutely every single weekend, and it\u2019s not every time we get a car to fight for pole position.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday it was the case, and I\u2019m really, really happy, really proud, to have seized this chance and to make it work.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a heck of a lap. We\u2019ve been on it since the first lap in Q1, it\u2019s been feeling good.<\/p>\n
\u201cNine years waiting for that moment, that feeling. I got my first win here in Monza, and now I get my first pole position, so it\u2019s definitely a special place to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
HOW GASLY GOT IT RIGHT\u2026<\/p>\n
George Russell had been the favourite for pole position all weekend. Not only had the Mercedes driver been quick throughout, but he had the benefit of his teammate being devoted to slipstreaming him all afternoon \u2014 the Italian was due to start from the back of the grid with an engine penalty no matter what.<\/p>\n
Everything looked on track for the predictable result halfway through Q3, when Russell had provisional pole.<\/p>\n
But it was close \u2014 much closer than expected. <\/p>\n
Five drivers were within 0.141s of his best lap. Gasly was only 0.072s adrift.<\/p>\n
Slipstream was key in Monza, where some drivers hypothesised it could be worth up to half a second. Track position, therefore, was key.<\/p>\n
Q3 is always a game of chicken at the Temple of Speed, where no driver wants to be first on track, punching a hole in the air for everyone else.<\/p>\n
Wait too late, though, and you could run out of time to set a lap at all.<\/p>\n
Alpine, though, was happy to risk it. It sent Gasly and teammate Franco Colapinto out last, hoping to maximise the slipstream benefit. They crossed the line to start their final laps with 10s remaining.<\/p>\n
Better, though, was that Gasly was positioned perfectly behind Lewis Hamilton, who himself was taking a slipstream from teammate Charles Leclerc.<\/p>\n
\u201cI managed to target slightly over 2.5s behind Lewis when he was going to be fast and drag me with him,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it was perfect execution.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the double slipstream, Gasly was one of only three drivers to improve in all three sectors of their final lap.<\/p>\n
It vaulted him into top spot, just 0.06s quicker than Russell.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried to leave everything I had out there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it would be one of these laps that would be rewarded, but to the point to get the pole position, I didn\u2019t expect that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Execution was key, but it wouldn\u2019t have meant much without a competitive car.<\/p>\n
On average this season Alpine has been the sixth-quickest qualifying car, 1.271s off the pace.<\/p>\n
But it had some advantages coming to Monza.<\/p>\n
The first was the Mercedes power unit, which clearly remains the class of the field. Six of the top 10 drivers in the speed trap were Mercedes-powered.<\/p>\n
The second is a major upgrade package that debuted on Gasly\u2019s car at the previous race. Alpine had been slipping backwards down the midfield for months, but this package was good enough to correct the slide, putting the car back in a well-balanced window that\u2019s allowing Gasly and Colapinto to attack.<\/p>\n
The third is somewhat counterintuitive but no less relevant. It\u2019s not unusual to see midfield teams overperform at circuits like Monza, because the track rewards low downforce. Usually having more downforce is critical to performance, and a lack of downforce is why these midfield teams are ordinarily adrift of pole. Here, though, the lack of aerodynamic performance is actually a perverse benefit \u2014 so long as the car is balanced.<\/p>\n
Racing Bulls, Audi, Haas and Cadillac all joined Alpine in having their best qualifying sessions of the season, being closer to pole than at any other race this year. Williams came close to doing the same, while Aston Martin still had an above-average performance despite the obvious disappointment of its underpowered Honda engine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe car balance is probably one of the best I\u2019ve had so far this year,\u201d Gasly said. \u201cThat gave me the confidence to attack all these corners, sliding around and playing around with the car, and we managed to make it work in that last run when everything mattered.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not down to one simple parameter. I think everybody did a very good job, and we\u2019ve been rewarded for it.<\/p>\n
\u2026AND HOW MERCEDES GOT IT WRONG<\/p>\n
But it was also important that some other key players did not do a very good job \u2014 and in some cases did quite a poor job.<\/p>\n
Russell was favourite for pole and had advantages equal to Gasly\u2019s. He had the same engine, and he had the added benefit of having Antonelli competing in qualifying only to give him the perfect slipstream, which he did.<\/p>\n
What Mercedes didn\u2019t have, however, was execution.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it was because the team didn\u2019t see Gasly\u2019s threat coming until it was too late.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve looked strong the whole weekend, but we\u2019ve often seen in Q1 some midfield teams have competitive laps \u2026 at the beginning of a session,\u201d Russell said. \u201cI didn\u2019t think too much of it; I just thought they looked fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cPierre clearly did a great job in Q1, but to be totally honest, I don\u2019t think we thought they were in the fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt goes to show what a great job he did and their team did to get the pole.\u201d<\/p>\n
It would be a stretch to say Mercedes was complacent, though. While Gasly at 0.072s off the pace after the first laps wasn\u2019t ringing alarm bells, Oscar Piastri, Leclerc and Max Verstappen were all within that same margin.<\/p>\n
It was all on the line when Mercedes sent out Antonelli and Russell in the middle of the pack for their final laps.<\/p>\n
It began going wrong before the lap had even started.<\/p>\n
Russell was behind Antonelli, who was warming up behind Verstappen. The Dutchman then hit the brakes unexpectedly early into Parabolica.<\/p>\n
\u201cMax just slammed on the brakes, and he didn\u2019t want to be the lead car,\u201d Russell said. \u201cIt\u2019s just one of those things. You can\u2019t control what other people do.<\/p>\n
\u201cKimi was there to give me the slipstream, which he did perfectly on the first run, but obviously with Max, I think it also made it difficult for Kimi to know what to do as well, so it was just a little bit unfortunate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn hindsight it probably would have been better off not trying this, but we wanted to give it everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell lost 0.213s in the first sector relative to his previous lap. He then set the quickest time of any driver in the middle sector and set a personal best in the final split.<\/p>\n
Had he strung together his best sectors on a single lap, he would have been on pole by more than 0.15s.<\/p>\n
Wolff, who later said Russell had \u201cgot done over\u201d by Verstappen, slammed his computer monitor in the garage in frustration.<\/p>\n
Russell is still well positioned to win the race from the front row. Alpine\u2019s race pace is unlikely to be good enough to hold back faster cars.<\/p>\n
But it is a complication, with both Ferrari drivers starting directly behind him \u2014 and this on a day Russell knows deep down he must maximise his score over Antonelli, who will be targeting a top-six finish at a minimum.<\/p>\n
There should be an easy 15-point swing on the table for him. Anything less will feel like a missed opportunity.<\/p>\n
HAMILTON WANTS TEAM ORDERS AFTER NEAR-DISASTER<\/p>\n
Ferrari started the weekend with a one-two in FP1. Come qualifying, it flirted with having both cars embarrassingly knocked out in Q2.<\/p>\n
The difference between abject failure and a second-row start was Gabriel Bortoleto sliding through the Ascari chicane on his final Q2 lap. It cost him bundles of time. Leclerc escaped just 0.008s to the good. Hamilton had only 0.001 in hard.<\/p>\n
It was indicative of the team\u2019s entire session. It had the car pace to contend for a spot on the front row \u2014 probably pole too, in retrospect, considering Alpine pinched it from Russell \u2014 but fumbled every step of the way.<\/p>\n
In Q3 Hamilton\u2019s car wasn\u2019t even ready in time for his first lap, leaving him well adrift of the field and without a slipstream. He said that then put him off his game for his second lap because he didn\u2019t have a reference for how powerful the slipstream was.<\/p>\n
He qualified fifth, 0.007s behind Leclerc in fourth.<\/p>\n
The only upside for Ferrari is that Piastri has been penalised from third to sixth, promoting both scarlet cars to the second row. On average a Ferrari car is gaining one place off the line every race.<\/p>\n
But it does little to assuage the sting of another mishandled session \u2014 and after blowing up over radio at the Dutch Grand Prix over botched execution, Hamilton made an arguably more extraordinary intervention after qualifying.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re at a point in the year where 59 points is a huge \u2014 huge \u2014 deficit to recover from, especially when Mercedes continue to be the leaders in speed,\u201d Hamilton said, per The Race. \u201cWe do have to work as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n
He then hinted, via some incomplete sentences, at what he really was getting at.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave we been… if and when that would ever change… we\u2019ll find out, but all I can do is just try to arrive and do the best job I can.\u201c<\/p>\n
He was then asked if he wanted to say that Ferrari should prioritise closing his 59-point title deficit over Leclerc\u2019s 87-point gap.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s light at the end of the tunnel, but it\u2019s getting dimmer the further we get through,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though the team\u2019s doing an amazing job in bringing upgrades and pushing us forward \u2014 I\u2019m so proud of everyone working; I say it all the time, but it\u2019s because I really am.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t do what I do without seeing the great work of everybody, and I feel like I always want to make sure that I acknowledge them and recognise them for that, because I want them to continue to push and I want them to stay hungry and keep that passion and fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut also at the track, we need to come correct and act accordingly to make sure we get the result we need.\u201d<\/p>\n
The context for Hamilton essentially requesting priority over Leclerc is clear. He felt he lost a shot at victory in the Netherlands to dithering on the pit wall and instead walked away with a bigger title gap.<\/p>\n
This weekend he\u2019s seen several teams prioritise one driver \u2014 albeit all in different circumstances \u2014 and reap the rewards.<\/p>\n
But this generation of Ferrari doesn\u2019t appear disposed to that sort of thinking. How it responds to the call will be fascinating.<\/p>\n
PIASTRI\u2019S POSITIVE PERFORMANCE DESPITE PENALTY<\/p>\n
McLaren ended up much closer to the pole battle than expected. Whereas it barely lapped within half a second of top spot all weekend, Piastri \u2014 who had looked half a step behind teammate Lando Norris all weekend \u2014 was just 0.037s adrift of Russell after their first laps.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t complete his second lap after locking up into the first chicane, though he surely wouldn\u2019t have improved anyway as the first driver on the track, leaving him without a slipstream.<\/p>\n
The Australian nonetheless qualified third, only 0.180s off pole, for his equal season best qualifying performance of the season.<\/p>\n
But Piastri won\u2019t start there after he serves a three-place penalty for impeding Liam Lawson in Q2.<\/p>\n
The offence was clear, but as the stewards found, the circumstances were unfortunate.<\/p>\n
McLaren struggled to position its cars on track all session, and on this occasion it sent Piastri out of pit lane in front of three drivers on push laps.<\/p>\n
He was able to let two of them by before reaching the chicane at slow speed, at which point he had no choice but to enter and block Lawson.<\/p>\n
But it took nothing away from Piastri\u2019s performance \u2014 much needed amid his ongoing struggles to get the most from his car.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood to have a decent result at least,\u201d he said before the penalty. \u201cIt\u2019s been a little while, so I\u2019ll take it.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the first time since the Japanese Grand Prix way back in March that he\u2019s qualified inside the top three. It also broke a six-race losing qualifying streak to Norris, closing the head-to-head count to 5-8 in the Englishman\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n
Piastri\u2019s race from sixth \u2014 and Norris\u2019s from eighth \u2014 will likely be tough, however, with Mercedes and Ferrari likely to have the race pace to escape up the road, and Verstappen is one of the best defenders in the sport.<\/p>\n
But McLaren was closer to pole than expected at what on paper should be one of its worst tracks, which will give it hope for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What was remarkable about Pierre Gasly\u2019s maiden pole position at the Italian Grand Prix is how unremarkable it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":881599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-881598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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