After such an intense race at the F1 Imola GP, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly ended up P13, just a few places away from points. The Frenchman was involved in an incident during some great wheel-to-wheel racing with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. Unfortunately for him, Gasly suffered the consequences, exceeding the track and going through the gravel at turn 9. This moment shaped his race, and after he dropped from P9 to P14 following that off, his pace diminished significantly.
However, the racing is not over yet. With Imola being the first of a triple header, Alpine and the other teams will be coming to Monte Carlo for the famous Monaco Grand Prix. Moreover, Pierre Gasly is extremely close to Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz in the standings. Therefore, he is set to try to close that gap and jump a place or two in the Championship.
The aftermath of Imola
The Italian race brought back some much-needed chaos, with two Safety Cars and many incredible racing moments. Pierre Gasly started the Imola GP in P10 with Leclerc just a position behind. The Monegasque attempted to get ahead of Gasly into Piratella after they had overtaken Hadjar on lap one. The two avoided any collision, but the Alpine driver got caught up in the gravel. Gasly shared his point of view on the whole incident in the print media pen
“Yeah, I mean, I’m not happy with how I handled that, just yeah, not good. We were fighting in Turn 7 already, I was slightly ahead in Turn 8, I tried to leave him some space, I thought I’d make the corner mid-track, but when I turned in, I just lost the rear, I went off straight away, so I lost some time and positions there.”
The Frenchman also talked about his strategy during the race. While Imola is an old-school, narrow track, overtaking can be quite difficult. The teams were mostly expecting a one-stop strategy, Alpine included, according to Gasly. Yet, after a Virtual Safety Car was called, the team switched to a two-stopper. Nevertheless, Kimi Antonelli had his car break down, and it turned the race around for everyone. Pierre Gasly explained his unlucky Imola experience:
“But then, after we went on the 2-stop… I think it could have been quite exciting at the end of the race, especially with the one-stopper, so we knew we were catching up and it would be very tricky for them to make it to the end, but then with that last Safety Car, it gave them a free stop and that was pretty much it, so yeah, not our day all in all.”
Not to mention, the Imola GP incident with Leclerc most likely caused damage to the floor of the Alpine #10 car, as stated by Gasly: “I need to check, but yeah, probably.”
Big team changes and their implications
Alpine replaced Jack Doohan with Franco Colapinto before the European leg began. This switch was not only hard for both of the drivers, but also for the rest of the team. Thankfully, Colapinto seems to be adjusting well to his newfound position. Pierre Gasly, the older and more experienced driver of the two, took the role of the mentor. Whilst the Imola GP was not much to write home about for Alpine, Gasly spoke about Colapinto’s adjustment:
“Yeah, I mean, I think he builds session after session, that’s what you’ve got to do, coming in at this stage. The thing is, he knows what he’s got to do, he knows he’s fast, he’s been working with the team, so I’m sure he’s learning lap after lap with the car, I haven’t really seen his race, but I’m sure he’s going to get better, weekend after weekend.”
His new teammate had an unfortunate crash in Qualifying. The pressure is on for the Argentine, but Gasly believes he is doing a good job:
“No, I think he handled it pretty well. I must say, we chatted, but I think he’s done well, just trying to regroup and focus on the day and what he had to do today.”
However, Colapinto might not be the only one in need of a check-in. Pierre Gasly admitted to speaking to his ex-teammate, Doohan, after the Miami GP, to offer his support:
“Yeah, I spoke with him after Miami during the week, I spoke a little bit with him because he was in the simulator, I didn’t really get the chance to see him at the track, but yeah, I tried to support him in what I can do.”
The Monaco Grand Prix
With the Imola GP in the past, Alpine and Gasly are getting ready to face the winding streets of the Monaco GP. The Frenchman reportedly feels confident about the car’s potential. The Qualifying in Monaco can make or break a driver’s race, but Gasly is “looking forward” to the challenge:
“I think quali was good, looking at yesterday, the pace was good, I felt comfortable, so we know how important the quali is in Monaco. It’s been usually a track where it can be very competitive there, so I’m looking forward to it, and we know Saturday is key there.”
The FIA made the executive decision to bring a new rule to create a more competitive race in Monaco. The newly imposed 2 mandatory stops have already gathered a lot of attention. Pierre Gasly shared his, possibly controversial, thoughts on this decision, believing it might bring out “interesting strategies”:
“I think it’s going to make things quite complicated, and maybe not the fastest will eventually win, so yeah, we’ll have to see how it turns out. It will be the same for everyone, but we might see some interesting strategies.”
Alpine competed with Williams in the past couple of seasons. Yet, 2025 came with some changes in that department, and Williams seems to have regained a lot of pace. Still, the Frenchman thinks that Alpine has a chance to recover if they start gaining points soon:
“They’re faster than us. Last year we recovered a 30-points deficit at the end of the season, so I’ll never say never, but clearly they are very competitive this year, and it’s important for us to start scoring points as soon as possible.”
While the Monaco GP is rapidly approaching, the end of this triple header will happen in Barcelona. Gasly remains hopeful that he and Alpine can start earning points and getting closer to Williams. The Frenchman praised the Williams car, especially for its consistency. Yet, the Imola GP did not cause Pierre Gasly’s faith to drop. He believes his team has some “catching up” to do, but nothing is certain:
“Yeah, we’ll see how Barcelona affects all the teams, I’m sure it’s going to be different from team to team, so hopefully this can come towards us, but at the minute they just seem to have a strong package, because of you look at their qualifyings since the start of the year, clearly a Q3 car, consistent every track, where in the past I think they were a bit more… their package needed a bit more of a low drag type of track.
“They’ve just made a pretty big step on the car, so we’ve got some catching up to do.”
