Pierre Gasly is ready for a “quite special” return to the Italian Grand Prix, a year after his first Formula 1 win.
The AlphaTauri driver capitalised on a penalty for Lewis Hamilton and held off a late charge from Carlos Sainz to produce one of the best feel-good moments the sport has seen in recent history.
Since then, he has continued to be consistently in the upper midfield fight, and this week was confirmed at AlphaTauri for another year in 2022.
“I’m obviously happy after the announcement, I feel very comfortable in the team, things are going well, and I think there’s definitely more to come for us,” Gasly, who currently sits eighth in the Drivers’ Championship, said in his Italian GP preview.
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“I can’t wait to get out on track in Monza because I feel the mojo is good within the team and the car seems to be working well at all kinds of track, in the wet or the dry.
“To have finished fifth, sixth and fourth in the last three races is proof of that.
“Zandvoort was an amazing weekend with everything going in the right direction from Friday onwards,” he added.
“I’ll admit on Sunday, I was hoping something might happen with the leading three and I might get to taste some of that podium champagne again, after my third place in Baku earlier in the season, but it didn’t happen.”
Looking ahead to Italy, Gasly is excited about a new experience for him in F1 and to see how strong he and AlphaTauri can be.
“After coming fourth on Sunday, expectations are high now for Monza,” he said.
“After the French Grand Prix, this is very much a second home race for me now, because I live just 15 kilometres from the track.
“The weekend will be something new for me, returning to a race circuit where I was the last person to win the Grand Prix.
“I’m very keen to be there and there should be plenty of Tifosi, unlike last year, which felt very strange as the fans are so much part of the Monza atmosphere – that and the high speeds.
“It will be something quite special, reminding me of some really unforgettable moments from last season,” he admitted.
“I hope we can get another great result again this time, but we have to consider that we will be tackling the Qualifying Sprint format for the second time.
“After Silverstone, we have a better idea of what to expect, but with the usual slipstreaming battle in Qualifying and the race, it will add another dimension.”