{"id":881852,"date":"2026-09-06T07:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T07:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/881852\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T07:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T07:44:12","slug":"we-dont-need-to-be-respectful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/881852\/","title":{"rendered":"We don’t need to be respectful"},"content":{"rendered":"

Going into the Italian Grand\u00a0Prix, of all the storylines and narratives being composed, absolutely none of them involved Pierre Gasly<\/a> and Alpine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not dismissive of the French driver or the Enstone team, but Ferrari<\/a> competing on home soil with a decent chance of victory and an Italian in Kimi Antonelli<\/a> leading the championship was always going to take every column inch available this weekend.<\/p>\n

So, when the FIA Court of Appeal report dropped at the start of first practice at Monza to inform the world that Gasly had lost his Monaco GP podium, a new and unexpected theme emerged. And then it snowballed.<\/p>\n

First there was\u00a0Flavio Briatore\u2019s questioning of the integrity of one of the judges, Filippo Marchino, about connections to McLaren<\/a> \u2013 one of the lead proponents in the appeal \u2013 which McLaren team principal Andrea Stella vehemently took offence to, then there was the FIA Court of Appeal statement to dismiss comments of impartiality.<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

It all overshadowed the Alpine message of \u2018we\u2019re disappointed but we\u2019re going to fight back on track\u2019 that the team initially released as it looked to move on from the saga. And to Alpine\u2019s credit, it has done exactly that.<\/p>\n

Having been in with a reasonable shout of reaching Q3\u00a0amongst the congested midfield on practice pace showing, Gasly topped Q1 to trigger the first sign of something special building and then duly grabbed a shock maiden pole by 0.060s from heavy favourite George Russell<\/a> and Mercedes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Pierre <\/p>\n

Pierre Gasly, Alpine<\/p>\n

Photo by: Dom Gibbons \/ Formula 1 via Getty Images<\/p>\n

From the mechanics jumping around the Alpine garage to Gasly\u2019s screams of delight over the team radio, it was clear this one meant more than perhaps it would\u2019ve done before Friday\u2019s appeal outcome. It was the perfect reaction \u2013 unlike Briatore\u2019s show in the FIA press conference.<\/p>\n

For Alpine and\u00a0Gasly to truly put the Monaco GP appeal saga behind them, following up pole with a big haul of points \u2013 say, the 13-point swing inflicted on Alpine on Friday \u2013 would ensure the 2026 Italian GP storyline would end on a real high for the Enstone squad.<\/p>\n

Alpine to target Italian GP victory: \u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n

But Alpine managing director Steve Nielsen feels Gasly can aim for something even bigger. When asked what the goal is for Sunday, he replied: \u201cTry and win it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we’re going to try [to win]. Why not? We don’t need to be respectful of anybody. We’re on pole on merit. Let’s see what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting on a whirlwind two days, Nielsen feels a strong result on Sunday regardless will be the ideal ending to a challenging few days.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a blur a couple of days ago with the Monaco decision being turned around,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I’m looking forward to stopping talking about that.<\/p>\n

\"Steve <\/p>\n

Steve Nielsen, Managing Director, Alpine<\/p>\n

Photo by: Sam Bagnall \/ Sutton Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s amazing. It’s the best feeling we could have. And like I said, we’re going to aim high tomorrow and leave here [with] as much points as we can get.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gasly has taken a more pragmatic approach, acknowledging the reality of Alpine lacking the pure pace and performance of the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari, but he also didn\u2019t dampen his victory hopes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy plan is to stay first as long as I can,\u201d\u00a0Gasly said. \u201cHow long is that going to be? I have no idea. My focus is going to be on my driving and making no mistakes and making the best out of what I have.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really hoping we can stick to that position [in the lead], but as we know, it\u2019s racing. Time will tell and I\u2019m just going to make sure I do my work as I always do, and come as prepared as I can and give it my best chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout\u00a0Monza\u2019s storied F1 history, surprise wins have been a theme, particularly in the modern era; Sebastian Vettel<\/a>\u2019s maiden win for Toro Rosso in 2008 (from pole), Gasly\u2019s own first F1 win in 2020 and Daniel Ricciardo<\/a>\u2019s shock McLaren triumph in 2021 spring to mind.<\/p>\n

Having been reportedly 1000-1 for pole, what are the odds of\u00a0Gasly and Alpine taking Italian GP victory and dominating the headlines again? At the time of writing, 10-1\u2026<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

We want to hear from you!<\/p>\n

Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.<\/p>\n

Take our survey<\/a><\/p>\n

– The Autosport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Going into the Italian Grand\u00a0Prix, of all the storylines and narratives being composed, absolutely none of them involved…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":881853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[821,64,63,44232,817,813,816,44231,1513,85,451097],"class_list":["post-881852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-alpine","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-autodromo-nazionale-monza","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-italian-gp","tag-pierre-gasly","tag-sports","tag-we-dont-need-to-be-respectful-alpine-bullish-about-italian-gp-win-after-gaslyu2019s-shock-pole"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}