The stable manager has given Pierre Gasly the guidance he needs – now he is a winner: “Gets a completely different respect”
Pierre Gasly was today’s big name at Monza. The Frenchman suffered a huge blow when he took his first victory in his career. For Pierre, this will be a huge boost, says Yle Sport’s expert Fredrik af Petersens.
Pierre Gasly’s last two years have been like a roller coaster. After promising efforts in the junior team, which was then called Toro Rosso, he got the chance in Red Bull last year but did not deliver.
Gasly never became friends with the car and was poked after twelve races in favor of Alexander Albon. Back in the junior team, he made a good end to the season and finished second in Brazil.
This year he has also made strong efforts in Alpha Tauri and today came the big hit when he drove home the victory at Monza.
– It was a huge bang. I can not come to terms with when it was such a big bang last time. It was not just Pierre, the whole list of results was completely reversed. It was a dramatic race and above all exciting, says Yle Sport’s expert Fredrik af Petersen.
Can Gasly now point the finger at Red Bull and show that they were wrong when he was poked?
– Maybe you can say that. But I think Helmut Marko, Christian Horner and the other Red Bull executives will congratulate him now.
– For Pierre, this will be a huge boost and self-confidence will surely increase by a thousand percent. He can now count himself among the drivers who won in Formula 1. Now he also gets a completely different respect from the other drivers.
He seems to thrive very well in the junior team, what is the biggest reason?
– The pressure is much smaller, but above all the stable manager Franz Tost has played a big role for Pierre. He knows exactly what to do to pep up his drivers and lift them. Franz Tost has a big part in this victory, says af Petersens.
Failure of Mercedes
Mercedes was tipped for victory before the race but the day ended up being a pancake. Valtteri Bottas finished fifth and complained about the engine setting, while Lewis Hamilton was penalized after a depot miss and finished seventh.
– I do not understand why they did not tell Lewis that the depot was closed and that he would stay out. Since the beginning one thinks that we have made a mistake and thrown away the victory. I do not know what was wrong with Valtteri but I guess the engine was overheated.
Is there anything he can take with him from the race?
– It’s probably good to forget this race. You will analyze what was wrong with the engine and how to avoid it happening again. It is the technicians who have more to think about and must react.
– Valtteri only runs the material he gets and there is not much he can do during the race. He is obviously disappointed with the race but he will have to look towards the next competition and then he will probably be on the podium again, says af Petersens.
Red Bull and AlphaTauri become sisters in time and no longer the big name and his junior training institution. So Pierre stands on the beginning of that AlphaTauri adventure. A leading roll for a young winner, he has learned it all the hard way in several years, not only in F1, but also before. Because he was sent to Japan, because of Helmut Marko thought he wasn’t man enough then. He grow that year also, won almost the title there, but of already driving in F1 and a storm which came along, the title went over, but Marko had seen enough and give him the F1-seat already. Gasly needed all those learning points, to get where he stands now. With the respect he deserves. Step by step he came there and he can lead AlphaTauri up in the ranks and thrive for stable points.