---
title: "Gasly: Returning to French GP as F1 race winner ‘pretty special’"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2021/06/17/gasly-returning-to-french-gp-as-f1-race-winner-pretty-special/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Hamilton Lyndon-Griffiths"
section: "F1 News"
published: "2021-06-17T09:39:22Z"
modified: "2021-06-17T09:39:24Z"
---

# Gasly: Returning to French GP as F1 race winner ‘pretty special’

Pierre Gasly says racing in his first French Grand Prix since becoming a Formula 1 race winner will feel “pretty special”.

Gasly claimed a shock maiden victory at last year’s Italian Grand Prix, holding off Carlos Sainz to become the first French driver in 24 years to win an F1 race.

Gasly was only three months old when Olivier Panis scored what would be his one and only career victory at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix, beginning a drought of 439 races without a French winner.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancelation of last year’s French Grand Prix, leaving Gasly unable to race in front of his home crowd.

F1 returns to Paul Ricard this weekend following a years absence, with Gasly now having the opportunity to race on home soil a as a grand prix winner for the first time.

“The next one is my home race and yeah, we know obviously I really want to do well there in front of all the fans and spectators,” Gasly said.

“Especially to go back there as a race winner will feel pretty special.”

Gasly goes into his home race in impressive form with two top-six finishes in Monaco and Baku, including a third career podium in the latter event.

Gasly stressed the importance of AlphaTauri trying to gain an understanding of why it performed so well on two street circuits, admitting the team is yet to find an answer for its strong upturn in pace.

“As much as we need to analyse and understand when things don’t go well, I think when it does really well – as \[in Baku\], we showed some very, very strong pace all weekend – we need to understand why,” Gasly said.

“Because at the moment we don’t really have the answer. Obviously surprises like this are more than welcome more often during the season.

“But I think, more than anything, we need to understand where it came from.”