In the history of Formula One, only one driver has waited longer than Pierre Gasly to claim their maiden pole position. The Frenchman, starting from the front in Monza, has completed 191 races across his F1 career, with only Sergio Perez waiting longer with a record of 216 Grands Prix.
The irony of Gasly’s pole position was not lost on the paddock, given earlier in the weekend he had been stripped by the FIA’s Court of Arbitration of his third-place finish at this year’s Monaco Grand Prix. The Alpine driver was a rank outsider for pole in Monza, with the UK bookmakers placing him at a 1000/1 shot, and despite starting from the most favourable grid position today, he remains 14/1 with Bet365.
A Missed Chess Game and Q2 Drama
George Russell, who was expected to breeze to the top spot in qualifying, revealed after the session he had lost a chess game to Pierre just an hour before qualifying began. The British driver joked he thought he would get his revenge on track, but it was not to be the case.
Meanwhile at Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton raised questions over the team’s commitment to teamwork in their pursuit of Mercedes’ championship leader Kimi Antonelli. Hamilton will start the race behind his teammate in P5 after a qualifying scare which saw him scrape into Q3 by 1/1000th of a second.
The seven-time world champion suggested that his teammate had placed them in this precarious position having deviated from the run plan, leaving Lewis under pressure in the dying seconds of Q2. “We were supposed to do a push-cool-cool-push,” said Hamilton after the session. “But because everyone was waiting and Charles didn’t want to go out first, we had to wait-wait-wait. And then we only got one push. And, yeah, it made it pretty challenging for us.”
Throughout qualifying, none of the drivers wanted to be first on track for each qualifying run, such that Oscar Piastri was forced to finally commit to his final lap with just over two minutes on the clock. With the Alpine drivers Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly leaving their pit lane last, they crossed the line for their final run with just seconds to go before the checkered flag came out.
Garage Glitches and the Post-Session Frustration
The scare at Ferrari appeared to disrupt the team’s preparation for Q3, as when all the cars went out for their first run, Hamilton was left stranded in the garage. His crew had failed to fit the fresh tyres to his car, meaning the Ferrari driver was half a lap behind the field when starting his push run.
“We’re at a point in the year where 59 points is a huge deficit to recover from,” Hamilton said in his post-sessioninterviews. “Especially when Mercedes continue to be the leaders in speed. So yeah, we do have to work as a team, but have we been?”
Clearly, Lewis believes Ferrari should favour him in their push for championship glory, given he is currently 28 points ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc. Lewis was unhappy after the recent Dutch Grand Prix over Ferrari’s strategic decisions, given he arrived behind his teammate on fresher rubber but waited several laps before the team instructed the Monegasque to move aside.
Hamilton finished the race in fourth position, but was less than a second behind George Russell and he bemoaned the time lost behind Leclerc having cost him a shot at the podium. Lewis openly observed how quickly rivals Mercedes were to enact their instruction to Russell to move over and let his teammate through.
The Number One Dilemma at Maranello
Whilst it would seem obvious for Ferrari to back Hamilton over Leclerc in his bid to close down the gap to Mercedes’ Antonelli, team boss Fred Vasseur has been reluctant to do so. His pragmatic position has remained “Ferrari first,” which clearly irritates Hamilton.
The dilemma for the Scuderia over nominating Hamilton number one for the final ten race weekends after Monza is that history looms heavy over the Maranello-based team. In the Schumacher era, the German driver was always given preferential treatment, as was Fernando Alonso in his time with Ferrari prior to the V6 hybrid era.
Yet times have changed at Ferrari given their lack of success in the drivers’ championship, with Kimi Raikkonen the last to win way back in 2007. Hamilton sugared his criticism of the trackside team by praising the work of the engineers back in Maranello.
“There’s light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s getting dimmer the further we get through,” Hamilton added. “The team’s doing an amazing job in pushing us forward, I’m so proud of everyone working really hard. I say it all the time, but it’s because I really am. I couldn’t do what I do without seeing the great work that’s happening.
“I always want to make sure that I acknowledge them and recognise them for that because I want them to continue to push. And I want them to say that we need to keep that passion on fire, but on the track, we need to come correct and act accordingly to make sure we get the result we need.”
Yet with Charles Leclerc signed up with Ferrari now until 2030, it’s highly unlikely Fred Vasseur will tell the driver who is the long-term future for the Scuderia to play second fiddle to Hamilton—no matter how much he complains.
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A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
In addition to editorial duties, Andrew is particularly interested in how media narratives shape fan perception of Formula 1, and how reporting can balance speed with accuracy in an increasingly digital news environment.
