“It sticks with me every day”

On 6 September 2020, Pierre Gasly lived what was the most prestigious day of his Formula 1 career so far, as he won the Italian Grand Prix with AlphaTauri.

Now called Racing Bulls, the team wasn’t a frontrunner by any means, with Gasly collecting 18 of its 20 points over the first seven grands prix of a pandemic-impacted campaign.

Still, the Frenchman consistently outperformed team-mate Daniil Kvyat and at Monza, he was fifth in Q1, sixth in Q2, but ended up only 10th in the final phase; he got sandwiched between Red Bull’s Alex Albon and Racing Point’s Lance Stroll at the start, which he was fortunate to ride out.

Gasly stayed in 10th until he made his first pitstop – one lap before the safety car neutralised the race for marshals to recover Kevin Magnussen’s stricken Haas car. This could have ruined Gasly’s race but had the opposite effect, as the pitlane was closed due to Magnussen’s nearby machine and most drivers had to delay their pitstops.

Gasly found himself in third behind Lewis Hamilton, who got a 10-second stop-go penalty for pitting when the pitlane was closed, and Lance Stroll.

After the race was red-flagged due to Charles Leclerc’s crash, a poor getaway from Stroll at the second start gave Gasly what was going to be an easy lead, then the latter withstood Carlos Sainz’ pressure to triumph with just a 0.415s margin over the McLaren driver.

Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT01, Carlos Sainz Jr., McLaren MCL35

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

This was the 80th F1 victory by a French driver, but the first since Olivier Panis’ in the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix.

As is often the case with unexpected winners, Gasly was overwhelmed with emotion on the podium. “To me, it’s something that will never leave,” he reflected in the Monza paddock five years later. “The type of emotions I’ve had on that day, the memories, it’s something that obviously sticks with me every day in my life.

“It was a turning point in my career and also in my personal life. Every day I wake up at home, I have my trophy that I see when I take my coffee in the morning. It’s good motivation. Whenever I’ve got time to play golf, like yesterday, I come here. I think I can almost see the 16th green over there.

“I’m spending a lot of time around here and it’s always in the back of my head. It’s nice energy, good motivation. Obviously, now it’s been five years, and it feels that it’s enough time. Obviously, I want another one. But Monza will always remain special.”

Gasly has now taken five podium finishes in grand prix races, always with midfield outfits – three with Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri and two at Alpine – and has consistently outperformed team-mates Kvyat, Yuki Tsunoda, Jack Doohan and Franco Colapinto, with only Esteban Ocon regularly matching him.

“There have been some good times, if you ask me,” Gasly said. “Not good enough to what I want to achieve in Formula 1.

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Photo by: Bryn Lennon / Formula 1 via Getty Images

“I think in terms of opportunities taken, I would say I’ve seized any podium occasion I’ve had apart from one. I think generally I’m happy with that. But on the other hand, I haven’t had the car that I need and I want to perform at the level that I want in Formula 1. That’s one thing.

“I think this is going to change from next year onwards. That’s why for me it’s important to stick together as a team until the end of the year. It’s not going to be a fun end of the year. It might be quite a long few months. But I think we all know what we work for and are very hopeful for the future.”

Although Alpine is last in the constructors’ championship, Gasly has just signed a new deal tying him to the team until 2028.