Pierre Gasly wrote a historic chapter for France in Formula 1 by securing pole position at the Italian GP. The Alpine driver became the first Frenchman to start from first position since Jean Alesi, also in Monza, in 1997.
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The achievement ends an almost three-decade gap without a French driver on pole in the category. The last time had happened precisely at the 1997 Italian GP, when Alesi, then a Benetton driver, secured the first position on the grid.
Gasly repeated the feat on the same circuit, but defending Alpine. Besides the historical importance for French motorsport, the result also represents the first pole position of the current team driver’s career.
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The parallel with Alesi gives a special dimension to the result. Since that 1997 qualifying in Monza, no Frenchman had again managed to beat the entire grid in a Formula 1 qualifying session.
Now, Gasly breaks this sequence precisely on the stage of the last previous French pole. The result puts the Alpine driver in front for the start of this Sunday’s Italian GP and ends a drought that began almost 30 years ago.
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