Lewis Hamilton says he's impressed with how Italian Grand Prix winner Pierre Gasly has turned around his fortunes this season after what he viewed as the Frenchman's unfair treatment by Red Bull last year.
Gasly was logically promoted to Red Bull at the start of the 2019 campaign, but struggled at the Milton Keynes outfit in the shadow of teammate Max Verstappen, his lack of results leading to an mid-season swap with junior bull Alex Albon.
But Gasly picked himself up at AlphaTauri and has shown a growing momentum this season that culminated with Sunday's shock win at Monza.
After the race, Hamilton was among the first to salute the 24-year-old's outstanding achievement.
"Pierre is just a really nice guy," said the six-time world champion. "I think he has a lot of talent and I don’t think he was necessarily treated fairly at Red Bull in the end when he got demoted.
"It’s not easy for a driver when that happens and so I empathise with that."
"I think to then build the confidence up, in a necessarily not-as-quick team, and then come around with some really great performances he’s had this year already with that car and then to get himself a win, it’s not easy to do that.
Hamilton, who recently questioned Albon's ability to contribute to Red Bull Racing's results, said that Gasly's feel good win is a slap in the face of the senior bull team.
"I’m really impressed, I think he’s done a fantastic job and deserves the success and hopefully that creates an opportunity for him moving forwards," added the Briton.
"But also, he beat the team that demoted him so it’s definitely got to hurt them."
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