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  Pierre Gasly claimed his first F1 career pole at the Italian Grand Prix and his first for Alpine, edging Mercedes' George Russell to set the fastest lap in 1:21.789.  Russell had been the favourite in Monza, having led the final practice session ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. The qualifying session took a stunning turn as Gasly seized Q3, improving from provisional P3 after being outpaced by Russell and Oscar Piastri, and leapfrogged to pole in his final run. In the earlier stages of qualifying, the McLaren duo maintained strong performance from Q1 and Q2, with Piastri leading Lando Norris. Gasly qualified for Q2 and Q3 in third before delivering blistering pace into pole. Russell had set the fastest time in the middle sector before Gasly edged him out. Russell improved by 0.032s in the final lap; Gasly outpaced him by 600th of a second.  "I just cared so much for George to be on pole. He was the quickest car out there. And then we got, obviously, compromis...