MONZA, Italy — Alpine driver Pierre Gasly secured his maiden Formula 1 pole position as he pipped George Russell in qualifying to line up first for the 2026 Italian Grand Prix.The Frenchman won this race back in 2020, his one and only victory in F1. And it comes on a weekend that’s been a roller coaster of emotions for the Alpine team after the FIA International Court of Appeal decided to reinstate Gasly’s two time penalties from the Monaco GP, which dropped him from a third-place finish to seventh.Before Saturday’s qualifying at Monza, Gasly only had one other front-row start in F1, which was in 2021 at Qatar (an event where he was boosted to the front row by penalties for other cars). His team’s last F1 pole came in the 2009 Hungarian GP when it was known as Renault.The Alpine car came alive during qualifying, which was dominated by drivers seeking tows from other cars to minimize the drag factor being enacted on their cars on the long Monza straights.Both Gasly and his teammate Franco Colapinto were in the mix for the top spots during Q1. Later, as the leading drivers prepared for their final Q3 runs, the provisional top three were Russell, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and Gasly.Piastri then had to abandon his final lap early after locking up at the first corner, and it came down to Russell, on a weekend where his Mercedes was expected to be the favorite, and Gasly.As he’d come out of the pits for the final time, Gasly made it clear to Alpine on his team radio that he wanted several cars in front of him to create the best tow possible. He ended up in the perfect spot in the line and did not put a foot wrong in his final lap, beating out Russell by 0.060 seconds.Ahead of Gasly on the track, Russell had been trailing Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, and while he improved his personal best time, it was not enough to stop Gasly slotting in ahead in first place by 0.06-seconds.Russell’s teammate, Kimi Antonelli, finished down in seventh after helping the other Mercedes gain tows across qualifying, as championship leader Antonelli has a grid penalty for taking a new engine that means he will start towards the rear of the field in Sunday’s race, where the Monza tow factor is again expected to be a significant factor.The Monza weekend is Gasly’s 190th in F1, and his reaction to finally claiming a pole position in the championship was one of elation.“Let’s gooooo! Let’s gooo! F–! I’ve been waiting for that one! I’ve been waiting for that one! F– yes!“Gasly’s result is also the first F1 pole for a French driver since the 1997 Italian GP, when Jean Alesi led the pack for Benetton, another former name for the same team. It has been known as Alpine since 2021 and is still owned by Renault.After qualifying, Piastri, who had been third in the final Q3 order even after his final lap had gone wrong, was handed a three-place grid penalty for blocking Red Bull driver Liam Lawson at Turns 1-2 in Q2. He will start Sunday’s race in sixth place as a result.