A chaotic session in the Italian sun proved to be the perfect condition for Pierre Gasly to claim his maiden pole position in Formula 1. As drivers struggled to find a tow throughout qualifying, the Alpine driver lit up the track throughout qualifying. Meanwhile, Lance Stroll hit a very different milestone by being knocked out in Q3 100 times.
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Tow proving crucial in Q1
A hot day at the temple of speed was no match for the passionate Tiffosi as qualifying got underway. Liam Lawson led the drivers onto the track to begin qualifying. Surprisingly, there was an early radio message from Lando Norris complaining about power and breaking issues. Meanwhile, Mercedes were practicing giving each other a tow on their first laps of the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. Alpine worked the tow really well with Gasly at the top of the times after their first runs and Colapinto in 3rd.
Stroll hits a milestone of 100 knock outs in Q1
Lawson had the track to himself with 3 and a half minutes to go in Q1 and moved up to P10. Unfortunately, an issue for Alonso meant he couldn’t improve on his P20 position. A big lock up for Oscar Piastri caused him to bail out Lando Norris got a fantastic tow from Kimi Antonelli to push him up to 3rd position. Unsurprisinly, Lance Stroll hit the milestone of being knocked out 100 times in Q1, one stat he won’t want to remember. Q1 ended with Gasly, Verstappen and Norris claiming the top 3 spots. Tsunoda, Albon, Bottas, Perez, Alonso and Stroll were all knocked out in Q1.
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Gasly surprises again
The importance of a slip stream was in the minds of all strategists as drivers scrambled to find a tow. As expected, Lawson provided a great tow for Verstappen to set his fastest lap with a 1.22.573. In the meantime, Gasly surprised again pushing up to P1 but it was short lived as Piastri and Norris took the front row spots. After the first set of runs, Piastri topped the times with a 1.22.017.
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Ferrari’s get through to Q1 by the finest of margins
The pressure was on the 2021 championship contenders as Verstappen and Hamilton fought to stay in the top 10. Verstappen gave a tow for Lawson which ended up being compromised by traffic. At the same time, Alonso and Piastri were being investigated for a pitlane infringement. Meanwhile, the tow wasn’t enough for Lawson as he was knocked out of Q2. Antonelli finished 1.21.882. Both Ferrari’s could breath a sigh of relief as they barely made it through the Q1 with 0.001s to spare. Out in Q2 were Bortoleto, Bearman, Hulkenberg, Lawson, Sainz and Ocon.
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Pierre Gasly claims his first pole position in Monza
Tension was rising at the start of Q3 as drivers went in search of a tow. It was a train of tows as the times tumbled. Russell topped the first set of runs with a 1.21.929, followed by Piastri +0.037 and Gasly + 0.072. On the other hand, Antonelli did a lap on his own practicing for the race tomorrow, as he starts from the back of the grid. Piastri locked up into turn 1 causing Norris to lose his tow. Surprisingly, Gasly pulled out the lap of a lifetime at the end of Q1, claiming his first pole in Formula 1.