Italian Grand Prix: Frenchman Pierre Gasly gets first Formula One win while big names falter

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly stunned F1 fans with an upset win over favorites Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel.

Pierre Gasly stunned the Formula One world by earning his first race, the first Frenchman since 1996 to do so, at the young age of 24. The Frenchman secured the win for AlphaTauri with deft maneuvering in the last lap, holding off McLaren’s Carlos Sainz who had been nipping at his heels in a tense, dramatic final stretch.

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The win was also a first for AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s junior team. Their only other win had occurred in 2008, when they were known as Toro Rosso.

Gasly held steady where so many other big names were hit by bad luck. The favorite to win, Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton, took the lead at the outset, but ended up finishing seventh after being hit by a stop-and-go penalty in the middle of the event. The six-time world champion was fined for ignoring the “closed” pit lane signs once Kevin Magnussen’s Haas was stopped. However, Lewis finishing seventh was pretty remarkable since he started out behind the pack at 17th and worked his way back up the field. For a while, it was exhilarating to watch and it seemed as if he might just pull off a miracle, but expecting him to regain the lead again was just too much.

Lewis Hamilton’s record chasing has to wait, for now

Hamilton is gunning for several of the great Michael Schumacher’s records and was the heavy favorite going into the race. Still, the British racer has managed to secure some important breakthroughs lately, including most consecutive race starts, total pole positions, most podium finishes and total career points. Lewis just won the Belgian Grand Prix and sits just two wins behind Schumacher’s total 91, a record Lewis is sure to surpass soon.

Disaster continued to strike others while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen retired the race due to mechanical problems, a huge disappointment for one of the top contenders for the title.

Ferrari’s taken quite a hit lately and both drivers were out of their home grand prix, with Charles Leclerc crashing out, causing a suspension to the race at one point.

This combined with Sebastian Vettel also retiring from the race due to break failure, dashing all hope for Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix.

But in the end, the win for Pierre Gasly was a heartfelt breakthrough that validated the enormous challenges he faced since being demoted by Red Bull to the AlphaTauri team and the loss of one of his closest friends, Antoine Hubert.

After the French anthem was played—followed by the Italian for his ecstatic Italian AlphaTauri team—Gasly just sat on the Monza podium, overwhelmed.

It was a wild race, resulting in a podium of winners that very few predicted, with Carlos Sainz taking second place followed by Canada’s Lance Stroll.

"“Honestly, it’s unbelievable. I’m not realizing what’s happening right now,” said Pierre Gasly after the race, according to Jalopnik.com. “It was such a crazy race, and we capitalized on the red flag. The car was fast, we had a pretty fast car behind us. I’ve been through so much in the past 18 months. Even with my podium last year, it was like ‘wow.’ I have no words. This team has done so much for me. They gave me my first opportunity in F1, they gave me my first podium, now they gave me my first win.”"

The next Formula One event will be the Tuscan Grand Prix, taking place on the Mugello Circuit, September 13. Stay tuned here for all your Formula One news.