– On Saturday, Pierre Gasly still “experienced something magical,” but on Sunday he returned to reality: At the Italian Grand Prix in Monza (which he sensationally won once before in 2020 with AlphaTauri), the Alpine driver finished seventh, 27.4 seconds behind winner Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes.
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“We have to be satisfied,” he says. “Of course, you start dreaming when you put the car on pole. We were all on cloud nine. But you also have to be realistic. We could fight a few laps with Lando, who won the last two races, and in the end, we were three seconds behind Lewis, who has been at the front all season. That is a big step forward for us.” At the same time, Gasly admits: “I wish it had gone a bit better than seventh place.”
The race had started exactly as he had imagined in his dreams. The 30-year-old kept his nerves and the lead at the start – and when he crossed the finish line first with a 0.304-second lead over George Russell, he recorded his first leading lap since Monza 2020.
But the fact that the big dream of victory probably wouldn’t come true became apparent just a few hundred meters later when Gasly had to let Russell and then Charles Leclerc pass at the beginning of the second lap in one go. After Leclerc’s crash and the red flag, he was still able to hold second place for three more laps.
Reality only returned a bit later when he was overtaken by Antonelli on lap 10, who had started from the very back after a power unit change in the Mercedes. For about ten more laps, he managed to stay ahead of world champion Lando Norris in tenth position, but eventually, he had to let the McLaren driver go.
That was on lap 21, and Gasly was by then ten seconds behind the leading duo Russell-Antonelli and 3.5 seconds ahead of Arvid Lindblad in the Racing Bulls. A lead he was able to extend to 17.8 seconds by the checkered flag.
So the magic of pole position was gone before half the race distance. If you prefer to see the glass as half full rather than half empty, you could also say: Gasly’s race pace from lap 21 was on average four tenths of a second faster than Lindblad’s. And the Racing Bulls are one of Alpine’s direct rivals in the Constructors’ Championship (62:75 points from Alpine’s perspective).
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“I already knew it would be much harder over 53 laps today,” says Gasly. “I’m still satisfied. The two good starts were outstanding. And it was a lot of fun to mix it up with the guys up front. I was able to hold on in that front pack for a while. That shows how far we’ve come in recent weeks.”
Did the Zandvoort update initiate the turnaround?
The Zandvoort update was a milestone for Alpine. The performance in Monza was probably flattering for the overall package. Track-specific, the Mercedes power unit, which has also been used by Alpine since 2026, was clearly superior to all other power units. This will probably not have such a strong effect in Madrid in a week.
“Of course, you think to yourself when you get up in the morning: ‘Maybe there’s more?’ But at the same time, we are the best in the midfield and not far behind the cars in front of us. Overall, that’s very positive,” Gasly is pleased. “The last 24 hours were outstanding. I want to experience that again. Hopefully, we will soon have more pace in the race to be able to fight.”
That he was able to qualify on pole against all the superstars but was then caught by Alpine reality in the race can also be seen positively from Gasly’s perspective. He must have driven an extraordinary lap on Saturday to beat Mercedes & Co. Such miracles may happen once – but not 53 times in a row.
“After this race weekend, we have to go back to the factory and try to understand what the hell actually happened,” Gasly grins. Because the pole position came “definitely out of nowhere.” And he hopes: “I’m sure we already have a few ideas that will work better for our package in the future.”
By the way, even team boss Flavio Briatore was satisfied after Monza: “We were realistic about what was possible today. Ultimately, the result shows exactly where we stand at the moment over a full Grand Prix distance. But both drivers did a fantastic job. And I’m glad Pierre had that moment on Saturday that he could enjoy with the team.”
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