By Cameron Harrad
After being sacked by Red Bull, Pierre Gasly responded to his critics by earning a spot on the podium in Sao Paulo, the first time in his F1 career. Will he be able to do it again?
2019 has seen a lot of ups and downs this season in Formula One: The Monogasque and Belgian Grand Prix races have been overshadowed by the loss of 3-time world champion, Niki Lauda and Anthoine Hubert. Williams, a former F1 superpower with 9 titles to their name had only scored a single point this season and Haas with a total of 9 retirements and several finishes out of the points area (positions 1-10), caused the loss of major sponsors for the team. On the lighter side, Lewis Hamilton had dominated the season and easily won his 6th title with Mercedes, Max Verstappen led his Honda-powered Red Bull to victory, marking it as the first time that a Honda engine has won grand prix since 2006. The season has also seen the emergence of young talents including Lando Norris, George Russell and Alexander Albon, who have continued to impress fans from all over the world.
This week's Brazilian Grand Prix at the historic Autódromo Jose Carlos Pace has been proved to be one of the most entertaining races of the season. Max Verstappen had soared his way to the front of the pack, qualifying 1st with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Frenchman and Red Bull reject, Pierre Gasly also had a very successful qualifying session, starting in a strong 7th place. Vettel’s teammate, Charles Leclerc had qualified fourth but because of changes in his cars power unit, he dropped down 10 places and ended up in 14th.
On a Sunday in sunny Sao Paulo, the race had kicked off with Verstappen and Hamilton fighting against each other for 1st place. Leclerc had greater fortunes at the start, climbing up 7 places. The race came to a halt after a collision between Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen, which had caused both drivers to lose several positions. The race had also saw a dangerous attack from Vettel on his teammate Leclerc, which caused both Ferraris’ to retire from the race after 69 laps.
On the closing laps of the race, Verstappen took the chequered flag and won his third race of the season. Surprisingly, Mclaren’s Carlos Sainz (who started from last place) and former Red Bull driver, Pierre Gasly had gained their first spot on the podium in their career after Hamilton had caused a collision with Alexander Albon, causing him to get a five second time penalty.
This result had meant that it was Mclaren’s first podium since Australia 2014, after many years of reliability issues and unsuccessful seasons. "It's been a stressful last few hours," said Sainz on the wait to learn the official result. "For your first podium you are nervous - you don't know how to act, how to react, especially without knowing the result. To get it coming from last [place] is very, very special. The result also confirms their fourth-place finish in the constructor's championship.
Gasly had struggled throughout the season from being demoted from Red Bull and losing his best friend (Hubert), however his first podium has made him finish on a high this season. ‘It’s the best day of my life,” he said. “As a kid, you dream of being in F1 and when it happens, it becomes the best day of your life. Then you dream of your first podium.
“When I came back to Toro Rosso, I just kept working on myself, I tried to push the team as much as much as I could, and I’ve been careful to make the best of all my opportunities’.
Results:
Constructors Standings after the race
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