Gasly claims first victory in thriller
MOTORSPORT
ROME: Frenchman Pierre Gasly won an astonishing Italian Grand Prix thriller for Italybased AlphaTauri yesterday in a topsyturvy race packed with suspense and none of the usual top teams on the podium.
McLaren driver Carlos Sainz, of Spain, finished a close second at Monza after a nailbiting chase to the flag. Racing Point’s Lance Stroll was third on a podium of youngsters.
Mercedes’ championship leader, Lewis Hamilton, finished seventh after starting on pole and dropping to last following a 10sec stopgo penalty for entering the pit lane under a red light while leading.
Despite the setback, the sixtime world champion retained his 47point lead at the top, now over teammate Valtteri Bottas, who was fifth, after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen retired.
Hamilton has 164 points after eight races to Bottas’s 117 and Verstappen’s 110.
It is the first time since 2013, when Kimi Raikkonen triumphed with Lotus in Australia, that a team other than Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull has won a race.
‘‘It’s unbelievable,’’ Gasly (24), who was dropped by Red Bull’s main team last year but has come on in strides in the strangest of seasons disrupted by Covid19 and without spectators, said.
‘‘It was such a crazy race and we capitalised on it.
‘‘I’ve been through so much in 18 months. I struggle to realise this.’’
The victory was a first in F1 for Gasly, the first for a French driver since Olivier Panis in 1996 and the second for the former
Toro Rosso team whose only other win was also at Monza with Sebastian Vettel in 2008.
‘‘I was so close but yet so far,’’ Sainz, who had also dreamed of taking his first win before joining Ferrari next year, said. ‘‘I needed one more lap.’’
The race had to be stopped at the halfway mark after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed heavily into the tyre wall at Parabolica. Leclerc’s teammate, Sebastian Vettel, had already retired with brake failure.
The standing restart from the grid, and Hamilton’s penalty that left the Briton having to make up a 30sec deficit, set up a thrilling 17car sprint.
The Renault Formula One team will be renamed Alpine F1 from 2021, competing in French colours to showcase the carmaker’s sportscar brand, new company chief executive Luca de Meo announced yesterday. — Reuters