Pierre Gasly admits he had a “lot of thoughts” as he sat on the winner’s step after the Italian Grand Prix.
The Frenchman produced a brilliant drive to capitalise on inheriting the lead following a safety car, red flag and penalty for Lewis Hamilton, and become the 109th different driver to win an F1 race.
It was a moment Gasly richly deserved after a year of brilliant performances since his demotion from Red Bull after just 13 races last year, and also produced a real feel-good story at a time when F1 needed one.
“I’m still struggling to realise what’s happened for us,” he told Sky Sports.
“My first win in Formula 1… a couple of months ago I got my first podium in Brazil and then today it’s my first win, in Monza with AlphaTauri, which is an Italian team.
“It could not have been better and we worked so hard, day by day, race after race, after everything that happened to me in the last 18 months, I could not have hoped for a better way to get my first win.”
It was after the podium ceremony, however, that captured many hearts as Gasly was seen with his head in his hand trying to soak it all in.
“I had so many things in my mind. I know these kind of moments are going so fast,” he admitted.
“From Brazil last year afterwards I was thinking I wished I had more time on the podium just to enjoy those kind of emotions even more.
“It was amazing. I just wanted to take the time to figure out what was just happening to me because it was amazing. I had a lot of thoughts crossing my mind and wanted to take my mind to enjoy that.”
Gasly though did admit the feeling was slightly dampened by the lack of the usual Monza atmosphere.
“I wish there could have been thousands of people down there and all the Tifosi,” he added.
“Everyone says Monza is probably the craziest place to win because the Tifosi are so passionate here. I wished I could have felt that energy, but there were already so many emotions it was a fantastic moment.”
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Unsurprisingly, his victory has led some calls for Red Bull to repromote the 24-year-old back alongside Max Verstappen, particularly given the apparent struggles of Alex Albon.
But team advisor Helmut Marko has other ideas.
“That is currently not a consideration,” he told Sky Deutschland.
“Gasly is one of our Red Bull drivers, he is currently with AlphaTauri and is doing a great job there but we also need a team leader there.”