What an epic race that was! Who on Earth saw this coming, eh? After 53 laps of pure drama that included one red flag, one restart, one Verstappen DNF, two Ferrari retirements, and a 10-second stop-go penalty for Lewis Hamilton, it was Pierre Gasly who won his first-ever F1 Grand Prix. And boy, did he absolutely deserve it.
The young Frenchman has arguably been the driver of the season thus far, even prior to this race. Now you could say that he has firmly cemented that spot. Gasly has consistently got the best out of his AlphaTauri and not one person (apart from Carlos Sainz maybe) will be unhappy to see him win.
As you’d expect, emotions were at an all-time high for him. Pierre was simply ecstatic, so much so that he could scarcely believe that he just won an F1 Grand Prix.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
He was heard on the team radio saying, “Oh my god! What did we just do!? We won the f*cking race! Yesss. Oh my god, guys, we did it again! Oh my god, yes, woohoo!”
No one was catching Pierre Gasly today, not even a crazy quick Carlos Sainz
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
It was indeed a magnificent drive from Gasly. He started the race in P10, but thanks to the red flag and a well-timed pit stop due to the safety car, he restarted the race in P3.
From then on, he put in a sublime, flawless drive, keeping an onrushing Sainz behind him for the entirety of the second race. Sainz tried his best, draining out every ounce of his battery in the last 4 laps. But alas, it wasn’t enough, Pierre was just too good on the day.
It was well and truly redemption for Gasly. Midway through last year, Gasly was dropped by Red Bull and relegated to Toro Rosso. Clearly, that move unlocked something in him. He achieved a P2 finish in Brazil, showing just how good a driver he was.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
And today he took it one step further. Surely, he has given Red Bull some food for thought now. This just adds another chapter, a glorious one at that, to his roller coaster of an F1 career so far.
Congrats Pierre on a truly well deserved victory at the ‘Temple of Speed.’