Pierre Gasly was left feeling “stoked” after securing his first podium in more than two years.
Following a difficult start to his time with Alpine, culminating in a major management upheaval midway through the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Gasly finished third behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin in the Dutch GP at Zandvoort.
The podium ended a 50-race drought for Gasly since finishing third for AlphaTauri in the 2021 Azerbaijan GP, with his latest result a just reward for surviving a chaotic wet-dry-wet event.
After claiming third in the sprint at Spa-Francorchamps, it appears the French driver is gathering momentum after previously finishing no higher than seventh in any race so far this season.
“It looks like that,” said Gasly.
“But it was extremely tricky. All the conditions were pretty much thrown at us from the start. We ended up on slicks in the dry, in damp conditions, then feeding the inters in the wet, but then on a drying track.
“So it was all about adapting yourself to the conditions and really playing with the limits.
“But after the summer break, I was really excited to get back in the car and this was probably the most fun I’ve had all season. Very exciting to be fighting for these positions.
“They were important goals to make but the whole team executed a very strong race, and I’m pleased because we haven’t been very fortunate since the start of the year.
“We’ve been involved in some unfortunate situations on many occasions, which has cost us some points, and which kind of built some frustration.
“But you’ve got to keep your head down and always try to improve what you can in yourself, and here it paid off, so big congrats to the guys, and a great way to restart the second part of the year. I’m feeling so stoked.”
Gasly and his team executed the perfect strategy after starting from 12th on the grid as he pitted for inters at the end of the first lap when many drivers opted to stay out.
When the conditions again dried and slicks were required, again Gasly was one of the first to switch, all of which kept him in the hunt towards the front of the field.
When Sergio Perez was handed a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane at one stage, it afforded Gasly his opportunity to strike for a podium.
In the late-race mini-sprint after a 46-minute red-flag delay following a torrential downpour, Gasly managed to keep third-placed Perez in his sights to secure the final podium spot.
“I was pretty upset that I got a five-second penalty earlier in the race,” said Gasly, who suffered the same infringement as Perez, in his case exceeding the pit lane speed limit by just 0.1kph.
“But I was like ‘Okay, now it’s 1-1’. Obviously, I tried to push as hard as I could to stay within five seconds, and I managed to do it.
“It’s never easy to stay within five seconds of a Red Bull, that’s for sure. But I saw the opportunity, I knew what was on the table and I just gave everything I had out there.
“I expected to struggle a bit more with the warm-up initially, but the conditions were not too bad, and it was pretty much a couple of qualifying laps at the end, which were really rewarding.”
