Pierre Gasly Retires After Crash in Monaco Grand Prix

MONTE CARLO, Monaco — Pierre Gasly was the first driver to retire from the Monaco Grand Prix after crashing into Yuki Tsunoda during the opening laps of the race on Sunday.

Gasly, driving for Alpine, lost control of his car while entering the Nouvelle Chicane. His front-left tire collided with the right-rear of Tsunoda’s Red Bull, which resulted in significant damage to Gasly’s suspension. “I got no brakes,” Gasly reported to his team before he headed to the pits, ultimately retiring from the race.

Tsunoda, who had just made a pit stop and was running in 17th place, expressed his frustration over the team radio, saying, “Is he an idiot? What is he doing?” Despite the collision, Tsunoda continued racing without apparent damage.

Local yellow flags were waved to manage the debris, and despite the incident, race officials did not deploy a Safety Car or a Virtual Safety Car.

The incident marked a challenging start for Alpine, a team struggling in the standings this season. Prior to the Monaco Grand Prix, they sat ninth in the team standings, just one point ahead of Sauber.

Sky Sports pundits Martin Brundle and Ted Kravitz criticized Gasly’s decision to return to the pits rather than an escape road immediately. Brundle remarked, “You are absolutely told to park them straight away. There’s debris everywhere, and this is a big risk for a puncture for the leaders.” Kravitz agreed, stating Gasly’s actions were “so dangerous for everyone else.”

After the crash, Gasly’s car trailed debris, raising concerns among other drivers. Gasly’s team had to stop the car manually once he returned to the garage.

As the race continued, Alpine faced mounting pressure to perform, dealing with ongoing uncertainty regarding their driver lineup and limited points so far this season.