It’s Been A Rather Benign Or P9 Kind Of Season For Pierre Gasly

How concerning or rather disenchanting might have Formula 1 in 2024 seemed to Pierre Gasly when right at the start of the season the Alpine driver finished eighteenth at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Surely, a P18 can’t be an inspiring way to get your season going.

What was worse thereafter was that in the very next event, Pierre Gasly scored his first DNF of the season; a gearbox problem at Saudi Arabia saw the 28-year-old out of the race in the opening lap itself.

As a matter of fact, it took, unless it has already been forgotten, eight Formula 1 races to score his first points.

Somehow, at one of the hardest tracks in which to overtake, the Rouen-born driver scored a fighting tenth at Monaco.

Though it was just one solitary point, but for someone who had been subjected to bitter disappointments, driving a car that had even been compared to a tractor, the Monaco race result was a reprieve of sorts.

A much needed one

But by that time, it was clear that all wasn’t great between the all French driver line-up at Alpine. As a matter of fact, a dubious move by Ocon right at the approach to the famous tunnel resulted in a skirmish that, even as on date, leaves Alpine’s fans and, without a doubt, Pierre Gasly enthusiasts disgruntled.

But it could be argued that things finally took a turn for the better in the aftermath of Monaco.

Not only did Pierre Gasly score points on more occasions than it was expected given the lackadaisical car, he finally found something that could be called a performance in a car that was still up until eight Grands Prix been utterly underivable.

A string of P9 race results followed thereafter

After finally opening his account in a Grand Prix that provided palpable excitement, frantic even, Pierre Gasly moved from the streets of the famous Principality at Monte Carlo to the great Gilles Villeneuve land with resolve.

What followed was a P9 at Canada’s Montreal, home to the famous Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. This has been Alpine’s best race result as on date.

However, what was interesting in a sense was that the team had already opened its account at Miami when thanks to Esteban Ocon’s P10, the Constructor managed to put points on the scoring board.

But a race result slightly pointing northward of tenth was missing

That is when, under inclement weather Pierre Gasly somehow managed to drag the tractor of a car to a fighting ninth and didn’t end it there.

In the next event at Spain, a legendary track where the greats like Hamilton have reigned supreme on more occasions than F1 drivers have collected a race win in their entire careers, Pierre Gasly helped Alpine score two more points.

This was again courtesy a P9, a stellar effort in that it did seem in the closing stages that the recalcitrant A524 would at some stage, whisk past Sergio Perez’s much faster Red Bull. But it wasn’t to be; how would Gasly have found another couple of laps to go past the struggling Mexican?

Forget not that most recently, Pierre Gasly competed at Zandvoort, F1’s last F1 race and with some roaring form.

In a race that provided plenty of chances for overtaking, Gasly found himself in a fiery but utterly competitive midfield battle where he fended off a certain Fernando Alonso in the end.

Surely, a P9 isn’t even close to the joy a podium finish can bring about; but then managing to defend against an Aston Martin while having an Alpine (also Alonso’s former team) is no mean feat.

Thus far, Pierre Gasly, who’d hope that his best days in Formula 1 lie ahead of him, has scored a P9 on 3 occasions in fifteen races.

Teammate Ocon, interestingly, had scored an identical result just one race before F1 arrived at Zandvoort: Spa Francorchamps (home to the famed Belgian GP).

From the looks of it, it’s been a P9 kind of season for Gasly, who in truth, has so much talent and skill as to fit into the part of a benign-looking F1 driver.

We’ve seen him excelling at Monza 2020, probably a race for the ages. We’ve seen him at Red Bull before. The best, he’d hope, is certainly to come.