Pierre Gasly surprisingly starts from pole position on Sunday afternoon at the Italian Grand Prix. The Alpine driver has George Russell beside him, while behind them the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are ready to strike in front of their home crowd. Meanwhile, World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli faces a huge comeback race from the very last starting row.
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Who had expected Pierre Gasly here beforehand? The Frenchman surprised friend and foe on Saturday by sending his Alpine to pole position at the Temple of Speed. Starting from first place, he can dream on Sunday of a second sensational Monza victory, after he already surprisingly won the Italian Grand Prix in 2020. But with Russell beside him and the Ferraris right behind, Gasly will have to give it his all to keep the big names at bay.
The second row in particular promises fireworks. Charles Leclerc starts from P3, with teammate Lewis Hamilton beside him in P4. The tifosi will hope for a Ferrari stunt on home soil, where the red cars can already hunt down Gasly and Russell early on. Max Verstappen is meanwhile in P5 and shares the third row with Oscar Piastri. The McLaren driver originally set the third fastest time but dropped back three places due to a grid penalty after holding up Liam Lawson during qualifying. Franco Colapinto and reigning world champion Lando Norris are in P7 and P8, while Arvid Lindblad and Gabriel Bortoleto complete the top ten.
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Monster task
At the back, Kimi Antonelli faces an especially tough challenge. The World Championship leader must start from P20 due to an engine change. Liam Lawson, again Verstappen’s teammate, is even in P22 because of his grid penalty. The big question is how quickly both drivers can work their way through the field. The Italian Grand Prix starts on Sunday at 15:00 Dutch time.
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