Qualifying for the 2026 Italian Grand Prix at Monza delivered one of the most talked-about sessions of the Formula 1 season — for two very different reasons. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly claimed the first pole position of his career in stunning fashion, while at the other end of the grid, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll made history of a kind no driver wants, becoming the first driver in F1 history to be eliminated in Q1 100 times.
Pierre Gasly Claims a Sensational Maiden Pole Position
A Shock Result at the “Temple of Speed”
On Saturday, September 5, 2026, Pierre Gasly delivered the standout performance of qualifying at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, widely known as the “Temple of Speed.” The Alpine driver had featured near the front of the timesheets throughout the hour-long session, and when it mattered most in Q3, he produced a stunning final lap of 1 minute 21.786 seconds to snatch pole position.
The result edged out Mercedes’ George Russell by just 0.060 seconds, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri completing the front three in third. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top five, while championship contender Max Verstappen could only manage sixth for Red Bull.
A Fitting Venue for a Historic Moment
There was a certain poetry to where Pierre Gasly milestone came. Monza was also the site of his first, and only Grand Prix win back in 2020, driving for the then-AlphaTauri team. Speaking after the session, Pierre Gasly could barely contain his excitement, calling it an incredible moment and his first pole position in Formula 1.
The achievement was made all the more remarkable given the context: Pierre Gasly result came just a day after a podium finish from an earlier race weekend had been stripped from him by an FIA appeals panel, making the pole an emphatic response on-track.
Alpine’s Strong All-Round Weekend
Pierre Gasly wasn’t the only Alpine driver to shine at Monza. Teammate Franco Colapinto topped the times in Q1 and looked competitive throughout the session before eventually qualifying eighth — a result that promised a strong points haul for the team once grid penalties for other drivers were applied. Alpine’s pace over the Monza straights, aided by their Mercedes power unit, proved decisive across the entire qualifying hour.
Lance Stroll Sets an Unwanted F1 Record
100 Q1 Eliminations — A First in F1 History
While Pierre Gasly celebrated at the front of the grid, Lance Stroll’s session ended in familiar frustration at the back. The Aston Martin driver qualified 22nd and slowest at Monza, marking his 100th career elimination in Q1 — the first time any driver has reached that milestone since the three-part qualifying format was introduced in 2006.
Stroll’s first-ever Q1 exit came all the way back at his Grand Prix debut for Williams at the 2017 Australian Grand Prix. Reaching 100 such eliminations in under a decade underlines just how often Stroll has found himself in uncompetitive machinery over the course of his career — though it’s also a reflection of how long he has remained on the grid.
How the Record Built Up
Stroll had already held the record for most Q1 exits in Formula 1 history heading into the 2026 season, having overtaken former record-holder Kevin Magnussen (74 eliminations) with his own 75th Q1 exit at the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. At the time, Stroll pointed out that the record says as much about car performance as driver performance, noting that any driver placed in an uncompetitive car for a decade would rack up similar numbers.
His qualifying struggles have not been evenly spread across his career. A significant chunk of his early Q1 exits came during his rookie Williams season in 2018, while he had a standout year in 2020 with zero Q1 exits, instead recording a personal-best 11 Q3 appearances in what was then the most competitive car of his career.
A Difficult Weekend for Aston Martin
Monza 2026 proved especially painful for the team as a whole. Stroll finished less than a tenth of a second slower than teammate Fernando Alonso, who qualified three places ahead in 19th after his own session was cut short by a car issue that kept Aston Martin in the garage at the end of Q1. That meant Alonso missed the chance to fit a fresh set of tyres and improve his time.
Speed trap data from the weekend revealed a striking gap between Aston Martin and the frontrunners, with the team reportedly around 20 km/h down on Mercedes’ straight-line speed — a serious disadvantage at a power-sensitive circuit like Monza. Despite Honda bringing an upgraded power unit to a recent race weekend, the improvement clearly hadn’t translated into meaningful gains by the time the field arrived in Italy.
Reflecting on the session afterward, Stroll was characteristically blunt, acknowledging the power deficit and admitting the team wouldn’t be able to keep pace with the rest of the field in the race.
Why This Qualifying Session Matters
A Snapshot of F1’s Competitive Order in 2026
Taken together, the two storylines from Monza qualifying capture just how unpredictable the 2026 Formula 1 season has been. A midfield team like Alpine claiming pole position — beating out the sport’s traditional powerhouses on raw pace — shows how quickly fortunes can shift from one race weekend to the next. At the same time, Aston Martin’s continued power unit troubles highlight the gap that can open up when a team falls behind on a specific technical area, even with a highly experienced driver lineup.
What’s Next
With Pierre Gasly starting from pole and Alpine looking strong in a straight line, there was cautious optimism heading into race day about a possible surprise result. For Aston Martin, the focus shifted quickly to diagnosing the power unit issues that hampered both cars in qualifying, with the team needing to close the straight-line speed gap before it becomes a recurring theme at future power-sensitive circuits on the calendar.
Whatever happens across the rest of the season, both milestones from Monza — one triumphant, one unwanted — are likely to be referenced for years to come whenever the conversation turns to Formula 1 qualifying records.
About the Author
Anam Younas
Editor of Daily Press Release
I write about technology, AI, business, finance, and global news, bringing readers clear insights into the latest trends and developments.
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