TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has promised the entire Alpine Formula 1 team a Hawkstone beer if Pierre Gasly wins the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.
Gasly came out of nowhere to stun the paddock, causing one of the biggest F1 upsets of recent times by beating George Russell’s Mercedes to the quickest time in qualifying at Monza, claiming his maiden pole position.
The 30-year-old edged out Russell by just 0.060 seconds to become the first French driver to start from pole since Jean Alesi in 1997, coincidentally, also at Monza – marking Alpine’s first F1 pole in 17 years.
Jeremy Clarkson makes beer promise
Clarkson, former Top Gear and The Grand Tour host, has given Alpine an extra incentive to claim its first win since 2021 by offering the whole team a Hawkstone beer.
Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm in Chipping Norton – made famous by the Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm – is near to Alpine’s Enstone base in Oxfordshire.
“Right. Pierre Gasly. No pressure but if you translate that pole into a win, the whole team gets a Hawkstone. Go Chipping Norton team,” Clarkson wrote on X.
Gasly is headed for a full-circle moment here in Monza, with his sole F1 victory coming at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix for AlphaTauri.
“I’m extremely happy with our performance,” Gasly said after securing a milestone F1 pole on Saturday.
“It’s been nine years I’m in Formula 1, trying to give my best absolutely every single weekend and it’s not every time we get a car to fight for pole position. Today it was the case and, yeah, I’m really, really happy, really proud to have seized this chance and to make it work.
“It was a heck of a lap. We’ve been on it since the first lap in Q1, it’s been feeling good. Nine years waiting for that moment, that feeling. I got my first win here in Monza and now I get my first pole position, so definitely a special place to me.”
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