With a historic first pole position for Pierre Gasly and a double-points finish, it was a weekend we won’t forget

The Italian Grand Prix will live long in the memory, not only for Pierre Gasly, but for the whole BWT Alpine Formula One Team. After 190 Grand Prix appearances, a blistering Qualifying performance on Saturday netted Pierre his first-ever Pole Position in F1, and the first for the team under the Alpine name.

Magic Monza

Thanks to the upgrades to the A526 — which first appeared at Zandvoort and were now shared across both cars — the pace was clearly apparent from the outset of Qualifying. Pierre topped Q1 with a lap of 1m 22.612s, with Franco in fourth, just 0.050 seconds in arrears.

In reaching Q3, both cars were the last to leave the pit lane for their final run. With the combination of the car’s strong balance, top speed, and the tow, as well as operational excellence from pit wall to garage, Pierre put together his three best sectors to record a 1m 21.786s lap, just 0.060s ahead of George Russell. A sensational P1 for the Italian GP, with Franco in P8.

Celebrations across the team

When Pierre crossed the line, the entire garage erupted with delight, with Flavio leading the celebrations alongside Renault Group CEO François Provost. Pierre’s parents, Jean-Jacques and Pascale, and girlfriend Kika were also jumping for joy at the back of the garage.

For the record books, Pierre became the first Frenchman to record a pole position since Jean Alesi at Monza in 1997, at the wheel of a Benetton. The last P1 in Qualifying for Enstone came 17 years ago, in Hungary 2009 — 349 races ago — when Fernando Alonso topped the times in a Renault. It was an incredible achievement and, justifiably, Pierre was congratulated by his fellow drivers and across the whole paddock.

Prior to Monza, Pierre’s last pole position came in the final weekend of his title-winning GP2 season, at Yas Marina in 2016, which he converted to victory.

“Thank you to everyone, it was an incredible qualifying,” said a delighted Pierre. “From my first lap in Q1, I felt very good in the car and at the end, it felt like a very good lap. I’m so happy. It’s been nine years, trying to chase and get a pole position. To win my first race in Monza, in 2020, and get my first pole on this track, I think it is something very special around here.”

It was the best possible response to the disappointing news earlier in the weekend, with the FIA Court of Appeal ruling that Pierre’s pit lane speeding penalties be reapplied, taking away his podium finish from Monaco.

Home from home

As a resident of Milan, Pierre has always enjoyed the Italian GP weekend, with his home just a few kilometres from the ‘Temple of Speed’, meaning an easy drive in at the wheel of an A390. Both he and Franco were joined by Flavio for a special evening at Milan’s Alpine Atelier on Thursday, following a busy day in which Pierre had appeared at the FIA Drivers’ Press Conference.

Prior to that, Franco had visited Inter Milan’s training ground, in partnership with Qatar Airways, to meet and swap jerseys with compatriot Lautaro Martinez. Both Pierre and Franco were also joined in central Milan by Steve Nielsen for the launch of the Moser Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton Ceramic Alpine Limited Edition and the new Moser Boutique in the fashion-loving city.

In all, it was a busy Grand Prix of activations for the team, with the announcement of Valvoline as the team’s new multi-year strategic partner. Its logo appeared on the car for the first time over the weekend.

Franco was also at the wheel of an A110R for a few hot laps of the Monza circuit, taking his engineer Stuart Barlow, as well as Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft, for a spin. Franco also talked about his exciting new deal, confirming his place at the team for 2027.

A chance for juniors to shine

Prior to track action beginning, there was time for Pierre and Franco to pose in the pit lane with the team’s Alpine Academy drivers, with F1 Academy driver Nina Gademan joined by FIA Formula 2 drivers Gabriele Mini — at his home circuit — Alex Dunne, Kush Maini and Reserve Driver Paul Aron.

Paul took over Pierre’s car for FP1 on Friday morning and was watched from the garage by the President of Estonia and First Lady. Paul set the 10th quickest time having completed 23 laps (133km), and after a quick debrief, was soon heading to the airport for a flight back to Enstone to continue his work in the simulator.

The early signs were that this was going to be a weekend in which the slipstream was an important factor, and that was especially true of the support races. While Gabriele and Kush were unfortunate not to enjoy the best of weekends, Alex scored points in the two F2 races.

Support from back home

Ahead of the Italian Grand Prix start, there was a special moment for the team with a live link with the pole-sitter back to The Farmer’s Dog pub in the Cotswolds. A special watch-along had been organised with the team and the pub, owned by friend of the team, Jeremy Clarkson, featuring simulators, a pit stop challenge with an Alpine F1 car and a big screen in the pub garden to show the race.

Jeremy wished Pierre the best of luck through the live link on Sky Sports F1 with the whole crowd cheering him and Alpine on throughout the afternoon.

On the same date, 6 September, as his Monza win in 2020, Pierre made a perfect start to retain P1 into the Rettifilo chicane and head the field to lead the opening lap — the first laps in the lead for the team since Brazil 2024.

Behind him, Franco also made a brilliant getaway, passing three cars and moving up to fourth place when the red flag appeared on lap two to stop the race following Charles Leclerc’s crash at Parabolica.

On the Gas!

At the restart, Pierre started second and held position from the chasing pack. That included Franco, who momentarily grabbed third, diving to the inside of Max Verstappen at the first corner and running in the wheel tracks of his team-mate.

He was re-passed around the outside at the Roggia chicane and then suddenly had a snap of oversteer in the middle of the first Lesmo corner, which sent him over the gravel. Managing not to get bogged down, he was able to rejoin the circuit in P15. Thereafter, he drove a measured race to haul himself back into the points and finish ninth.

Both he and Pierre had switched from the Mediums to Hards during the red flag and knew they had a long way to go to nurse their tyres to the end. Pierre enjoyed a great battle with the McLarens and finished only 2.7 seconds behind the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton at the chequered flag in seventh. While ultimately not the outcome we had dreamed of after leading into Turn 1, it was an excellent double-points finish in a weekend that will be remembered for a long time.

“It has been incredible. To be honest, we can all be very pleased with what we have achieved and finishing P7 today, best of the rest, top of the midfield is a really good achievement,” said Pierre. “Of course, we wanted more but we also have to be realistic and today’s result is probably the best we could have achieved with what we have right now. So, in the end, I am happy. We’ll take the points and turn our focus to a new track in Madrid next weekend.”