Starting from pole before finishing seventh at Monza, Pierre Gasly refuses to talk about disappointment. Being able to fight with Norris and finish very close to Hamilton already represents a huge satisfaction for Alpine.
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Pierre Gasly would have certainly liked to turn his incredible pole position into an even more spectacular result at the Italian Grand Prix. But the Frenchman has no illusions: given Alpine’s actual pace over the race distance, seventh place was probably the best achievable result.
Gasly created one of the biggest surprises of the season by securing the first pole position of his career. It was also Alpine’s first pole, the first for the Enstone factory since Fernando Alonso at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, and the first for a Frenchman since Jean Alesi at Monza in 1997.
During the race, the hierarchy gradually reasserted itself. But Gasly mainly highlights his ability to fight with drivers like Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.
“The realistic part of me is very satisfied”
Gasly perfectly exploited his starting position by holding the lead during the first lap. After the red flag caused by Charles Leclerc’s accident, he also managed a good second start.
However, the Frenchman knew it would be extremely difficult to hold off faster cars for 53 laps.
“The realistic part of me is very satisfied,” admits Gasly.
Starting from pole naturally allows imagining an exceptional scenario.
“When you start from pole, there is inevitably a part of you wondering what can happen over 53 laps.”
But Alpine knew its limits.
“To be honest, before the race, we knew our pace would be insufficient to stay ahead and fight with the best.”
Russell was impossible to hold back
Gasly quickly had to give way to George Russell. The Frenchman was fully aware that the power of the Mercedes would make defense practically impossible as soon as the Briton could benefit from the slipstream.
“I knew that if I kept the lead exiting Parabolica, George would overtake me. It was guaranteed, so I wasn’t really surprised.”
Once Russell passed, Gasly found himself in the middle of a battle with the McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri as well as with Hamilton’s Ferrari.
And it is precisely this part of his race that gives him the most satisfaction.
Gasly fought with Norris
During the first laps, the Alpine managed to stay in the leading group. Gasly notably points out that he was able to fight directly with Norris, who arrived at Monza after two consecutive wins.
“We had two excellent starts. We managed to keep the lead on the first and the second was also very good.”
“We stayed in the pack for the first ten laps, which was really positive, and I fought with Lando, who had just won the last two races.”
For Gasly, it is especially important to compare this performance to Alpine’s usual situation.
“Considering where we come from, it’s extremely positive.”
“I’m not going to be disappointed by that”
The Frenchman ultimately crossed the finish line in seventh position, behind the two Mercedes, Max Verstappen, the two McLarens, and Hamilton.
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But the gaps remained relatively contained. Gasly finished 8.3 seconds behind Norris, fourth, and especially only 2.7 seconds behind Hamilton, sixth. A performance whose significance he refuses to downplay.
“Finishing three seconds behind Lewis is the same. He has fought for podiums this year, so I’m not going to be disappointed by that.”
Obviously, seeing a pole position turn into seventh place can leave some regrets.
“The final result remains seventh place and you would obviously like to get a bit more.”
But Gasly prefers to focus on the whole weekend.
“I think we must especially retain all the positive elements, because there were many, and try to build on that.”
“The best car I’ve had this year”
Beyond the result, Gasly mainly felt a clear evolution in the behavior of his Alpine.
The Frenchman even goes as far as to call the car used at Monza the best car he has had since the start of the season.
“It was the best car I’ve had this year, and also the most consistent.”
Now remains to understand why. Some reasons for this resurgence in competitiveness are already identified by Alpine, while others still require analysis.
“There are some things that explain it and others that we still need to understand.”
Gasly already has some leads but refuses to draw definitive conclusions after just one weekend.
Alpine must now confirm
Monza remains indeed a very particular circuit with its long straights, low downforce levels, and heavy braking zones.
“I have some ideas about the reasons for this performance, but we obviously need more circuits to confirm it. Monza is very special and very unique.”
The coming days will therefore be important for the engineers at Enstone.
“We will try to better understand this performance and especially see how we can reproduce it during the next weekends.”
Alpine therefore did not turn its surprise pole into a podium, but Gasly believes the Italian Grand Prix could nevertheless mark an encouraging turning point.
After a particularly difficult season, fighting for several laps with Norris and finishing less than three seconds behind Hamilton already represents a strong signal. For Gasly, the goal is now clear: to understand why his Alpine suddenly showed such competitiveness at Monza in order to reproduce this performance elsewhere.
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