Max Verstappen lashes out at Lewis Hamilton over terrifying near-miss at the Italian Grand Prix – before Pierre Gasly shocks everyone to take pole position!
Pierre Gasly sprung one of the shocks of the season by taking pole position for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, 24 hours after learning he had been stripped of his podium finish in Monaco.
That controversy, so long after the event in June, a verdict delivered by the FIA’s International Court of Appeal, has convulsed the paddock this weekend.
Gasly, a Frenchman who drives for Alpine and lives in Milan, 30 minutes down the road from the Monza circuit, just pipped George Russell to pole by 0.060sec.
Oscar Piastri was third for McLaren, Charles Leclerc fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth – a poor day for the two Ferrari men.
Hamilton also endured an awkward moment with old rival Max Verstappen. Verstappen and Hamilton were almost wheel-to-wheel as the Brit tried to get ahead of the Dutchman, who blamed him for the closeness.
‘He caused that,’ Verstappen shouted. Hamilton said: I got blocked by Max, so…’ Carlo Santi, Hamilton’s Ferrari race engineer, added: ‘Yes, we saw.’
Max Verstappen gestures towards Lewis Hamilton after they came close at the Italian GP
Gasly’s sole victory came here six years ago, driving for AlphaTauri, and this was his first pole.
As for Hamilton, the 41-year-old had turned up at the Temple of Speed on Thursday in his £6million Ferrari F40 road car, wearing a suit and a coat and a beret, and told the world that he wished to become the first black winner of this fabled race.
Yet his Ferrari, the one he needs to propel him to victory, appears not to be up to the standard.
If there is not an improvement in the Ferraris during the race, it will be inquest time at Maranello (again).
Hamilton only squeezed into Q3 by the skin of his teeth – the smallest margin possible, one-thousandth of a second ahead of Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto.
‘We are through, that is very tight,’ he was told by his race engineer Carlo Santi.
Pierre Gasly was delighted as he caused a major shock by taking pole position
Hamilton only squeezed into Q3 with his Ferrari not appearing up to standard
‘Ah, f*** me,’ responded Hamilton.
Prior to the Gasly incursion, Russell had been superb throughout qualifying as he was in practice. This looks like the moment he must make a serious dent in the championship lead held by his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, the 20-year-old Italian who will start at the back of the grid despite taking on a new engine, having qualified seventh.
Russell is 59 points back from Antonelli with 11 races of the campaign remaining.
Aston Martin continued to trail the field, with Lance Stroll at the very back, his team-mate Fernando Alonso only a place above him.
So much for their upgrades. Some steps forward but a steep incline.
Gasly, 30, said: ‘We had the car to challenge for pole. We were surprised to see us up there. I didn’t want to get too excited but I was third after the first run in Q3 and I knew I had a shot at it, and I had a true chance.
‘I left it all out there. Crossing the line, I knew it would be a lap that would be rewarded – but a chance to get to pole position, I didn’t expect that. It is definitely one of those laps that I will put up there. It has been emotional with everything going on this weekend, and I have been trying to stick to my job and that is what we did.
‘I am really proud and happy to have seized this chance. It was a heck of a lap. Nine years waiting for that feeling. I got my first win here in Monza and now my first pole, too. It is a special place for me, a unique track.’
