Gasly happy for his first points, but urges his team to "review many things"

F1 Grand Prix, GP Monaco, Monte Carlo Circuit

Pierre Gasly was delighted to score the first points of his 2024 F1 season, but he urged his team to review the intra-team battle that saw him and his team-mate Esteban Ocon crash on the first lap of the Monaco Grand Prix.

Pierre Gasly had a weekend of lows and highs in Monaco. The Frenchman was hindered by engine-related woes in the opening practice, but he bounced back from that to make his first Q3 appearance on Satuday.

Although he suffered a big hit from his team-mate Esteban Ocon on the opening race of the Monaco round, his car survived enough to allow Gasly to secure his first point of the season.

“It feels good to score my first point of the season and the team deserves it, considering how much work they have put in during the last couple of weeks to improve our performance. Monaco is a place full of opportunities, especially in Qualifying, which we seized by reaching Q3 for the first time this year. Had we maximised Q3, more points were probably possible.

"As a team we will review many things. After the red flag, the race was very uneventful and it was just about managing tyres and pace all the way to the chequered flag where, in the end, the outcome is a deserved point for the team.”

His team-mate Esteban Ocon caused a first-lap incident with his team-mate which saw Gasly pick up damage while he was forced to retire from the race. Ocon received a ten-second time penalty for the incident, and as he could not serve it, he will lose five places on the grid in the next race that takes place in Montreal in two weeks' time.

The Frenchman apologised for his mistake: "I made a mistake today so I apologise to the entire team for the incident and the retirement. In the end, the team scored points as we set out to do and that’s the most important thing for our ambitions.

"There was too much damage sustained to my car to resume the race despite the best efforts of the team during the red flag stop. We will review everything as a team and come back stronger together. We are all pushing to score points. Mistakes do happen and we move on.”

Team Principal Bruno Famin was happy to see Gasly score his first point after a very difficult start to the 2024 F1 season, and he also vowed that Alpine will review the incident that happened between their two drivers.

“Today’s result was largely defined by yesterday’s Qualifying and, as a team, one point is how it has ended up. It’s a bittersweet feeling. We probably did not maximise yesterday’s Qualifying but from where we ended Friday to where we have ended Sunday is clearly a positive outcome.

"As a team we will review and manage the incident between both cars behind closed doors. We must avoid situations that have the potential to compromise the team," concluded Famin.