Fuoco Claims Monza Pole as Jaminet Places Genesis Second
Antonio Fuoco claimed pole position for Ferrari at its home circuit of Monza, beating Genesis Magma Racing’s Mathieu Jaminet by just 0.096 seconds in a tightly contested Hypercar Hyperpole session for the 6 Hours of Monza.
Fuoco recorded a 1:33.364 in the #50 Ferrari 499P to secure his first FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar pole at Monza, preventing Jaminet from taking a second consecutive pole for Genesis. The French driver had briefly led the timesheets in the final moments, posting a 1:33.460 in the No.19 GMR-001.
Jaminet’s second-place finish nonetheless signaled another strong qualifying effort for the new Genesis program, with the squad continuing to show its potential against the established Hypercar manufacturers. Earl Bamber took third for Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA in the No.38 V-Series.R, just ahead of the second factory Ferrari of Antonio Giovinazzi in fourth. This result secures a second-row start for Cadillac in Sunday’s six-hour race.
The Hyperpole session proved particularly demanding, with qualifying held on a drying track following three wet practice sessions. It also marked the first genuine chance for teams to use slick tyres during the weekend, serving as a crucial learning exercise ahead of the race.
For Jaminet, the outcome brought some frustration, as he felt pole was within reach despite a disrupted final lap: “I’ve never experienced this kind of asphalt, a very high grip before here, so a lot of things to learn quickly,” he stated during the post-qualifying media pen interview.
“The car felt alright. On one hand, I’m a little bit frustrated because I was ahead in the last lap and the Alpine in front of me went off in Ascari and I didn’t have a clean run until the very last lap.”
The Genesis driver believed additional performance was available, especially considering how narrow the gap to Fuoco ultimately was.
“Looking at how close it was, I know we were definitely in the game to get the gap even closer than that tenth, if not a little bit in front, so a little bit annoying again this year.”
The #19 crew also had to address an issue between the initial qualifying session and Hyperpole, requiring the team to open the car and perform resets before Jaminet could join the pole shootout: “We had also an issue between Qualy and Hyperpole. I think many people saw we had to open the car, do some resets and so on. Luckily I could drive Hyperpole, so again P2 is the perfect result going into tomorrow.”
Despite his disappointment at missing pole, Jaminet recognized the progress Genesis has made throughout the season, emphasizing the consistency of the #19 entry in recent qualifying sessions.
“Yes, we are starting our last three events in the top three on car #19, so that’s pretty good. I feel, honestly, we could have been on pole the last four events without an issue in Kota. We didn’t really have a proper shot in Fuji, had the issue in Hyperpole in Barcelona, and then here, coming to Buenos at the end, it’s full of dirt.”
He noted that the team’s qualifying results showed just how competitive the GMR-001 had become since the start of the campaign.
“This is what it is, but it shows the car has an amazing potential again. If you would have told me at the start of the season you would start the last few events always in the first two rows, I would have never believed. It’s really a big hat-off to the guys, working so hard and giving us such a competitive car on the Saturdays.”
However, converting that one-lap speed into a strong race result remains Jaminet’s priority. Although the #19 will start on the front row, the Frenchman remained cautious about its prospects over six hours, particularly given the limited dry running available to the teams.
“Now hopefully we need to translate that performance into a Sunday. That really, really matters to me at this point, but let’s see tomorrow, at least a good start.”
With only one driver from each crew having completed running in the difficult conditions, Jaminet anticipates that Sunday’s race will pose a significant challenge for all competitors.
“I think for everyone, obviously in Qualifying there’s been only one driver running, so it’s not easy for all the starting drivers and my other two teammates. It’s going to be a challenge, but everyone is on the same boat, so honestly it’s hard to predict.”
He also expects teams to make substantial adjustments to their cars overnight, with the dry qualifying session offering the first meaningful opportunity to evaluate setups in those conditions.
“I don’t really know what to expect. For us a good race would be, if we can finish around the P5, would be already an amazing result.”
Even with that relatively cautious target, Jaminet is encouraged by the #19’s starting position and hopes it can stay with the leading group.
“So we are lucky to start in the front, we’ll try to stay there and see if we’ve got the race pace to stay with the front pack.”
When asked about the possibility of rain during the race, he made his preference clear: “Well, it seems okay in the dry, so yeah, dry is good. Hopefully we can have a dry race and some good battles and good fights.”
Behind the leading four, Peugeot TotalEnergies secured fifth with Theo Pourchaire in the #94 9X8, while Victor Martins placed the No.36 Alpine A424 sixth on the grid. Norman Nato qualified seventh in the second Cadillac, the #12 V-Series.R, followed by Robert Kubica in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari in eighth.
Nick Cassidy took ninth in the second Peugeot, with Sheldon van der Linde completing the top ten in the #20 BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8.
Further down the order, the two Toyota TR010 Hybrids face a tough challenge in their battle for the Drivers’ Championship. The #8 of Ryo Hirakawa qualified 15th, one spot ahead of Kamui Kobayashi in the #7. Kobayashi subsequently received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Harry Tincknell’s No.007 Aston Martin during qualifying, leaving the championship-contending Toyota to start from the back of the 17-car Hypercar field.
Attention now shifts to Sunday’s 6 Hours of Monza, with Ferrari starting from pole on home soil, Genesis alongside on the front row, and Cadillac occupying third and seventh. With limited dry running and considerable uncertainty regarding race pace, the six-hour contest could yet produce a very different outcome from Saturday’s qualifying order.
The race begins at 11:00 local time on Sunday, November 8.
