Pierre Gasly emerged from the chaos of Italian Grand Prix qualifying as the only driver to put every element together when it mattered, taking a remarkable pole position for Alpine at Monza. Ferrari, meanwhile, secured the second row with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton after narrowly avoiding elimination in Q2, with the progress delivered by the new ADUO-2 power-unit specification helping to keep the SF-26 in contention at one of its most demanding circuits.
Gasly certainly benefited from opportunities missed by his rivals, but his pole was anything but accidental. Alpine combined Mercedes power, its latest chassis upgrades, excellent track positioning and an error-free final lap. Ferrari’s session was considerably messier, yet the final result was broadly where the car’s potential suggested it could be, especially given the underlying power-unit disadvantage the Scuderia has carried against Mercedes.
Pierre Gasly’s Monza pole built on Mercedes power and perfect execution
Few would have predicted Pierre Gasly as the Italian Grand Prix polesitter before qualifying began. By the end of the session, however, the Frenchman had produced a lap that was as deserved as it was surprising, capitalising on his rivals’ mistakes while delivering the only truly complete performance at the decisive moment.
The foundation of Alpine’s performance was clearly the Mercedes engine. Monza is the most power-sensitive circuit on the Formula 1 calendar, and in a 2026 generation in which the power unit once again carries enormous weight in overall performance, the Brixworth unit demonstrated the value of the more aggressive engine mode it appears to have available for qualifying.
Reducing Gasly’s pole entirely to engine performance, however, would overlook how much Alpine has improved elsewhere.
Alpine upgrade gives Gasly speed through the corners as well
The upgrade package introduced in the Netherlands has made the Alpine considerably better balanced. Gasly was not merely matching George Russell for straight-line speed; at certain points of the lap, he was able to outperform the Mercedes through the corners as well.
Perhaps the most striking comparison came at the Parabolica. Gasly carried roughly 8 km/h more speed through the corner than Russell, which also gave him an excellent exit towards the finish line and helped secure pole position for the race.
Alpine then executed the track-positioning element of qualifying perfectly. Its two cars were the last to leave the pits, avoiding the developing chaos further ahead while simultaneously finding the ideal gap to the Ferraris to benefit from their slipstream. They crossed the line to begin their final laps only a few seconds before the chequered flag.
Gasly therefore had everything he needed at exactly the right moment: the car, the engine, the track position and, above all, a lap completed without mistakes.
George Russell loses pole after costly first-chicane error
George Russell had pole position comfortably within reach and could potentially have placed Gasly between himself and the chasing pack, which would also have represented a valuable strategic advantage for the race. Instead, the slipstream plan involving Kimi Antonelli was disrupted by the presence of Max Verstappen and compromised the preparation for Russell’s final lap.
The British driver benefited from a tow only along the opening straight and arrived at the Prima Variante with substantial speed, but then made an error under braking, just as he had during practice. Following another car closely while travelling faster than normal makes judging the correct braking point particularly difficult.
Russell ultimately lost around a tenth and a half to Gasly in that section, effectively the margin that cost him pole position.
Red Bull and Verstappen also had the potential to join the front-row battle. However, a rear-end problem prevented them from extracting the true performance of a car that potentially had enough pace for the first row.
McLaren finds more power but fails to execute at Monza
McLaren also let a strong opportunity slip away. The Woking team had finally managed to extract considerably more from its power unit than it had during free practice, with a good level of electrical energy still available between Ascari and the Parabolica.
However, Oscar Piastri’s impeding incident cost the team the possibility of third place, while a poor passage from Lando Norris dropped him all the way to ninth. Like several of the leading teams, McLaren had performance available but failed to combine all the elements cleanly when the decisive laps arrived.
Ferrari ADUO-2 keeps the SF-26 in contention despite chaotic qualifying
Ferrari will start from the second row, with Charles Leclerc third and Lewis Hamilton fourth behind Russell. Considering how the session unfolded, the result was almost miraculous.
Both Ferrari drivers had already been in serious danger of elimination in Q2. The first attempt on used tyres was extremely optimistic, while a deployment problem on the second run meant Leclerc and Hamilton escaped the cut by only a few thousandths of a second.
The difficulty of extracting performance from the complete power-unit package has been a central theme of Ferrari’s Monza weekend, particularly because the SF-26 power-unit upgrade involves far more than headline horsepower.
In Q3, both drivers nevertheless produced extremely strong laps. Leclerc’s best work came particularly on his opening attempt, while Hamilton delivered on the second. Even then, Ferrari’s session remained chaotic, with slipstreams missed and Hamilton inexplicably completing his first attempt alone on track.
There are, however, two separate aspects to consider when assessing Ferrari’s result.
Ferrari’s original 2026 power-unit weakness remains evident
The first concerns the fundamental weakness of Ferrari’s 2026 power unit, which remains clearly visible. In a season in which the engine has become more influential and at the circuit where outright power matters most, the SF-26 begins from by far the least competitive power-unit baseline among the leading teams.
Without the second ADUO update, Leclerc and Hamilton would not have progressed beyond Q2, because that was simply the performance level of Ferrari’s power unit before the latest interventions.
The importance placed on the second development step had been clear before the weekend, with Ferrari expecting the ADUO-2 Monza power upgrade to provide a meaningful improvement at a circuit where every additional gain in straight-line performance matters.
That does not mean Ferrari has suddenly caught Mercedes in terms of power-unit performance, let alone moved ahead. Monza qualifying instead appears to underline how important the additional power available from the German engine remains over a single lap.
For that reason, the expectation that Ferrari should have automatically monopolised the front row was not particularly consistent with the technical reality of this weekend. Even before qualifying, assessments of the SF-26’s prospects at Monza centred on improvement rather than an assumption that Ferrari had erased its underlying deficit.
ADUO-2 progress gives Ferrari a realistic race opportunity
The second aspect is the result Ferrari actually achieved. Finishing only a few tenths away from pole and entering the race with the possibility of fighting for something significant at Monza is broadly in line with expectations, despite an extremely untidy Q3.
Credit once again goes to a chassis that continues to demonstrate strong competitiveness, to Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, and above all to the progress brought by ADUO-2. The latest specification has not transformed Ferrari into the power-unit benchmark, but it has moved the SF-26 far enough forward to keep the team involved on a circuit that should expose its greatest weakness.
Ferrari had also worked extensively on the rest of the package before its home race. Charles Leclerc had already assessed the Ferrari engine and floor developments for the Italian Grand Prix, underlining how the Monza challenge involved extracting performance from the complete car rather than one isolated component.
Q3 execution was anything but perfect, but in reality almost nobody delivered a clean final phase. Amid the general confusion, Ferrari finished approximately where its underlying potential suggested it should: immediately behind Russell. Gasly was the only driver who put everything together without making a mistake, which is precisely why he will start ahead of everyone.
Ferrari chassis remains a strength despite Monza power demands
That distinction is important for evaluating the SF-26. Ferrari’s weekend cannot simply be reduced to its deficit on the straights. The chassis remains competitive enough for Leclerc and Hamilton to compensate in other areas, while the latest engine development has reduced the scale of the weakness that would otherwise have threatened their progression through qualifying.
The broader technical direction of the car has focused on reducing the penalties associated with Monza’s unusual demands, and Ferrari’s ongoing SF-26 technical development continues to revolve around finding the best compromise between chassis performance, aerodynamic efficiency and power-unit deployment.
For Leclerc in particular, third place puts Ferrari directly into the fight from the start. The Monegasque remains one of the Scuderia’s strongest references around Monza, and further coverage of his 2026 campaign can be found in the Charles Leclerc Ferrari news and analysis section.
Italian GP race becomes an energy-management puzzle
The race now promises to be extremely open. Energy management, slipstreaming and the potential for so-called yo-yo overtaking with this generation of cars could create a highly unusual contest around Monza.
Russell remains the outright favourite, but Ferrari is still firmly in contention and, Gasly aside, currently appears to be the Mercedes driver’s first challenger.
The Alpine driver did not appear to have the pace in the race simulations to remain with the leading group, but he will still be a factor everyone must deal with. If Gasly retains enough straight-line speed to make himself difficult to attack, passing the polesitter could prove far from straightforward.
Verstappen could also enter the fight if Red Bull manages to resolve its rear-end problem, which appeared to be a genuine technical issue rather than merely a set-up concern. Antonelli, meanwhile, is expected to recover rapidly from further back with his new engine.
For Ferrari, the qualifying result therefore represents neither a breakthrough nor a disappointment in isolation. The original power-unit deficit remains, the team’s execution was far from ideal, but ADUO-2 has done enough to keep Leclerc and Hamilton genuinely involved at a circuit where the SF-26 began from a difficult technical position.
Gasly was simply the one driver who combined every ingredient perfectly. That achievement has earned him pole position and ensured that the 2026 Italian Grand Prix remains completely open heading into the race.
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