Having once tasted victory in a Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly is still driven by the dream of winning more often. However, whether these are races or even a championship, it remains to be seen if this will come to fruition. The 28-year-old Alpine driver is all too aware of the frustrations that Formula 1 can bring.
“The first Grand Prix you win is always special,” Gasly reflects on what was the realization of a dream. He won the Italian Grand Prix in Monza as a Toro Rosso driver. “All the emotions inside you are released at once as you cross the finish line. I know it’s a cliché, but it’s something you’ve always dreamed of as a child: winning a Grand Prix. And then it happens.”
But then, the morning after. Gasly: “You wake up, the euphoria has passed, but you immediately feel the urge to continue. You want to win again quickly. And that can be quite a letdown…
Frustrations
Especially if you, like Gasly, have to do it with an AlphaTauri, or an Alpine. Does he not find it frustrating as a driver who has proven he can win? “As a driver, there is one crucial element that you do not control: how good the car is from the team you have chosen,” says Gasly, former teammate of Max Verstappen.
“In football, it’s eleven against eleven, everyone has equal chances. In tennis, you each have a racket to hit the same ball over the same net. But in Formula 1, not everyone has the same weapons. Of course, that’s frustrating. Just think about it: you know you’ve driven a fantastic race, executed everything perfectly, and you finish fourteenth. While another driver has performed poorly, but stands on the podium because he has a better machine.”
