Justice has finally been served as Pierre Gasly has capped a yearlong roller coaster ride. 12 months ago, the Frenchman was devastated to learn that he would be demoted to Toro Rosso. Who would have thought that he would soon lead that car to a podium in Brazil and now, a first home win at Monza!
To tell the truth, many drivers were very happy for the Frenchman, and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc came to congratulate him. Leclerc himself had a torrid race, losing control of his Ferrari and crashing into the Parabolica corner. That brought up the red flag so the sheriffs could repair the barrier.
How did Pierre Gasly emerge victorious?
Admittedly this was Lewis Hamilton’s race to lose as he was simply running away with victory. However, it all fell apart when Kevin Magnussen’s Haas pulled up near the pit lane entrance.
Hamilton pitched when the safety car came out, unaware that the pit lane was closed.
As a result, Antonio Giovinazzi and the Briton himself suffered a 10-second stop-start penalty. This paved the way for Gasly to finally inherit the leadership and he never looked back since. However, he did not have it easy, since Carlos Sainz was harassing him all the way.
Sainz’s McLaren steadily closed the gap with the AlphaTauri until it reached a showdown on the final lap. Somehow Gasly was able to fend off Sainz’s advances and stayed in the lead until the checkered flag. Pierre Gasly has been on a great journey, from getting a Red Bull promotion in early 2019, to being demoted midway.
He took his revenge at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix with a deserved podium. Now, he has finally crowned it with his first victory. It’s also worth noting that this is AlphaTauri’s second career victory, since Sebastian Vettel in 2008.
By the way, that victory also took place at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
