Pierre Gasly, smile ambassador at Alpine
Author of his 4th podium in F1, Pierre Gasly showed a great race pace in difficult conditions (which he enjoys). At Zandvoort on Sunday, the Frenchman and his team bounced back and will have to confirm it at Monza.
While Max Verstappen is crushing any ounce of suspense for the win, beautiful stories are being written behind him: such was the case for Pierre Gasly, whose 3rd place is as delightful as it is refreshing!
Some will say that this podium was achieved more by the force of circumstances than by the performance of the car. But it must be acknowledged that, starting from 12th position, making such a great comeback can only be applauded, especially when the car isn’t a second faster. Because, far beyond the race events, Pierre Gasly made us forget about his missed qualification.
It’s simple: after the first shower, the Frenchman always stayed in the rhythm and in the Top 5 at that! The Alpine has often had difficult Grand Prix races. But at Zandvoort, it showed that it had good abilities, just like what we could see in Melbourne before the collision.
What temporarily dashed the hopes of a podium finish was this harsh penalty: for exceeding the speed limit by only 0.1 km/h, the Normand had to incur a five-second penalty, which he served in the pit lane. But he quickly regained his position and held on admirably against Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari for a long time! That’s what we call Formula 1, with intense battles lasting several laps.
In contact with Pérez
Contrary to his teammate Esteban Ocon, the red flag came to help Pierre Gasly. Sergio Pérez had just made a pit stop (and almost collided at the entrance of the pit lane, hence his penalty).
On the restart, Sergio Pérez could have pulled away from Pierre Gasly by five seconds with the advantage of his Red Bull. But the Alpine held on and comfortably stayed within this gap! A sign that the A424 can perform well.
Pierre Gasly obtained his 4th career podium and gave Alpine their second podium of the season. Beyond the result itself, the Frenchman has shown, on one hand, that joining the French team is not necessarily a bad thing, and furthermore, that things can go wonderfully well if everything is well executed.
Gasly’s financial statement is particularly positive: these fifteen additional points allow him to double his capital, in order to regain the Top 10 of the championship, ten points behind a anonymous Lance Stroll.
But, for the #10 and its team, now is certainly not the time to rest: failing to secure a new podium, they must confirm their strong performance on the Monza race track. And thus, put an end to this tiresome trend seen this season: witnessing a team struggle in one Grand Prix after showcasing impressive performances in the one prior.
