WHAT A GAS!
Pierre- fect day for Frenchman
Dropped to second- string Toro Rosso – now Alpha Tauri – midway through the season, the future looked bleak for the Frenchman.
He suffered more heartbreak when best friend and F2 driver Anthoine Hubert was killed at last year’s Belgian Grand Prix.
But a stunning victory at yesterday’s Italian Grand Prix has catapulted Gasly, 24, into the bracket of best redemption stories – and injected some much- needed excitement into a stale season.
Until this weekend it had been ‘ The Lewis Hamilton show’, with the Briton on course for his sixth win in seven races until disaster struck at the famous Monza circuit.
The six- time world champion ultimately fought his way back to seventh, retaining his 47- point lead at the top of the standings, but this wasn’t about him.
Instead, the plaudits belong to Gasly, who held off a nail- biting bid for victory from Mclaren’s Carlos Sainz Jnr to seal his firstever win in F1.
It was the first time since 2013, when Kimi Raikkonen won with Lotus in Australia, that a team other than Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull had taken the chequered flag.
Other records tumbled too, with Gasly becoming the first French driver since Olivier Panis in 1996 to win.
He was, unsurprisingly, in tears as he crossed the line, screaming in delight following his memorable win.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I’m not realising what’s happening right now.
“It was such a crazy race. We capitalised on the red flag. The car
by MATT MALTBY
was fast out there, we had a pretty fast car behind us.
“I’ve been through so much in the space of 18 months.
“My first podium in Formula One last year, I was feeling ‘ wow’, and now my first win in Formula One in Monza, I’m struggling to realise it.”
Gasly ultimately profited after Hamilton was forced to serve a 10- second stop- and- go penalty for stopping to change tyres when the pit lane was closed.
The race took a dramatic twist when the safety car was deployed on lap 20 with Kevin Magnussen’s Haas parked up in a rather dangerous position.
Hamilton had established an 11- second lead over the Mclaren pair of Sainz and Lando Norris before diving into the pits too soon and was duly penalised by the stewards.
The race restarted on lap 24 but little more than a minute later Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed out at the high- speed Parabolica corner.
Leclerc’s team- mate Sebastian Vettel had already retired with brake failure on what was another humiliating day for the Italian outfit on home turf.
The standing restart from the grid, which saw Hamilton attempt to overturn a 30- second deficit, set up a thrilling sprint for victory.
And Gasly held on to win a chaotic and bonkers race which even the sport’s biggest critics will welcome.