"I like this track," Pierre Gasly quipped as he steered his Alpine into parc ferme. Not into the usual enclosure for the rest of the pack, but towards the bollard indicating the number 1 on the Formula 1 grid.
Six years ago, Gasly took his hitherto only career win in Monza at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, celebrating on a desolate podium overseeing empty grandstands. Not so on Saturday, where Gasly was able salute the crowd, his crew and his ecstatic parents.
"Let's go, let's go! I've been waiting for that one!" he yelled into his radio as he was informed by his race engineer of his fate, while his Alpine garage crew morphed into a sea of limbs.
If his AlphaTauri win in 2020 came as a total surprise, though aided by the circumstances, then defeating the might of Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren at the Temple of Speed in a straight shootout was even more unexpected.
Gasly had already been an impressive third after the first set of runs, but didn't stop there. On the final run, he leapfrogged both George Russell and McLaren's Oscar Piastri by finding a tow from Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton to claim pole by a mere 0.060s, making the most of Alpine's powerful Mercedes power unit around Monza's high-speed layout.
"From the first lap in Q1, I felt very good in the car, trying to chip away a little bit every single session. It felt like a very good lap," the Frenchman explained.
"I am so happy, it's been nine years trying to chase and get the opportunity to get a pole position. To win my first race in Monza, get my first pole on this track, I think it's something special around here.
Pre-event favourite Russell was initially shocked to hear he had been pipped by Gasly but was quick to praise the 30-year-old afterwards. "Massive congratulations to Pierre, because that's an incredible performance," Russell said.
"We actually finished a game of chess 15 minutes before qualifying and he beat me there, and I thought: 'I think I'll beat you in qualifying'. And here we are, he's ahead of me again.
"I was disappointed not to get the pole position, it was a bit messy with [Max] Verstappen opening the lap, I did the lap super close. But Pierre and Alpine have been super fast, even from Q1."
Behind Gasly and Russell, Piastri and Charles Leclerc were set to occupy to second row, though the McLaren driver has been summoned by the FIA race stewards for impeding and faces a likely grid drop.
