Pierre Gasly secured a surprising pole position for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, marking a significant achievement for the Alpine driver and his team. The qualifying session was marked by uncharacteristic errors from several leading contenders, paving the way for Gasly's unexpected front-row start.
Gasly's performance coach, Ben Thorne, noted the driver's confidence before qualifying, stemming from a successful online chess match against his rival for the front row, George Russell. "I must say before the quali, I felt pretty confident," Gasly said. "Turned out that it worked out well."
Russell, who qualified second, shared a laugh about the pre-qualifying encounter. "He beat me there, and I thought, 'Well, I think I'll beat you in qualifying,' and here we are, he's ahead of me again," Russell commented.
While Gasly's previous Formula 1 win at Monza six years ago was aided by luck during a unique pandemic-affected season, this pole position was earned through merit. The Alpine car demonstrated strong straight-line speed and benefited from a recent aerodynamic upgrade. Gasly and his team executed a near-perfect qualifying session, taking advantage of challenges faced by other top teams.
"Monza is a bit of unique track as we know," Gasly stated. "It definitely exceeded all our expectations." He added that the car's pace improved throughout the weekend, with a notable step made between final practice and qualifying. The team initially aimed for a Q3 appearance but found themselves unexpectedly at the top of the timesheets early on.
"Straight from Q1, we were a bit surprised to see us up there. Our target was Q3. But then I was P1 in Q1, then P4 in Q2. I didn't want to get too excited but then first run in Q3, I was third again," Gasly recalled. "And then I felt, 'OK, well, I really have a shot at it.' It's probably the first time I really get a true chance and tried to leave everything I had out there."
Gasly expressed that he felt he extracted the maximum from his car on the final lap. "I don't think there was definitely much (left) in there. And crossing the line, I knew it will be one of these laps that will be rewarded. But to the point to get to the pole position, I didn't expect that."