Pierre Gasly’s ‘vendetta’ at the Italian GP

Formula 1 still has stories as fantastic as Pierre Gasly’s in Monza, where this Saturday he dared to challenge the big fish of the championship to celebrate his first pole position in the World Championship, in his tenth season in the series and after suffering the disdain of Red Bull — they replaced him with Alexander Albon and sent him to Toro Rosso, their second team — first, and his exile, later. In his fourth season with Alpine, the Frenchman pulls the cart of a team that has been forced to reinvent itself after the departure of the Renault group, which disappeared as an engine supplier for this year, and after almost half a century. The connection between Italy and Gasly is amazing if we consider that it was here, exactly six years ago, where the driver achieved the only victory on his record; clad in the Alpha Tauri suit and in a crazy race, with accidents (Charles Leclerc) and penalties (Lewis Hamilton) that placed a theoretical secondary driver under all the spotlights. The story repeated itself in qualifying, although this time the prize is absolutely deserved, the result of a strategy that went perfectly to the Seine-Maritime boy’s revenge, who had been on a huge high for two days after learning, this Friday, that the FIA took away the podium he achieved in Monaco, after validating McLaren’s claims.

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Gasly’s anger was released by Flavio Briatore, Alpine’s director, who even dared to question the impartiality of the judges who handled the case: “The problem is that one of the judges is very linked to McLaren, because we have a photo of him giving a speech for them, in 2018. It is very unfair,” said the colorful Italian executive, who returned to F1 in 2024, hand in hand with Luca de Meo, then CEO of the Renault Group, who left his position a year later, leaving Briatore in charge of the team.

Gasly’s lash was not a stroke of luck. First, because the A526 took a step forward with the improvements applied a couple of weeks ago, in Zandvoort. To that, two more elements must be added, which, combined, led the French team to sign the first pole in its history. On the one hand, the aerodynamic configuration of the car in Monza, the one with the lowest aerodynamic load of the entire calendar. Until now, all teams had a specific package of parts for the so-called Temple of Speed. However, the influence of the budget cap on season planning has made most opt to design more versatile wings, to use in several scenarios. But that is not Alpine’s plan, which put on track a car with hardly any drag — resistance to advance — that enhanced the thrust of the Mercedes engine it incorporates. And along with the above, Gasly was also catapulted by the perfect slipstream, as he practically left the workshop last in his last attempt at a fast lap, and was sucked in by the train of cars circulating ahead of him. Among them, George Russell, who will start next to him (3:00 p.m., Dazn). Kimi Antonelli, the leader of the overall standings, will start last after receiving a 30-place grid penalty for using the fifth power unit. Carlos Sainz will start 14th and Fernando Alonso, 20th.

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“After nine years, not having a pole made me think about going out on track hoping I could pass. It was a perfect qualifying, we executed everything perfectly and on that last lap I squeezed everything the car had inside,” Gasly summarized, with the half-smile of someone who, in his view, had just done justice.

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