Pierre Gasly Says Alpine’s Package ‘Is Not Good Enough’ Even After Franco Colapinto Salvaged a Point in Belgium

• Franco Colapinto scored Alpine’s only point in Belgium with tenth place, keeping the team level with Racing Bulls in the constructors’ fight
• Pierre Gasly endured a miserable weekend that included a Friday practice crash and a poor start, finishing outside the points
• Gasly bluntly assessed Alpine’s current package as “not good enough” heading into the Hungarian Grand Prix

Franco Colapinto’s tenth-place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix ensured Alpine did not lose ground in its fight with Racing Bulls to lead the midfield, with the two teams now tied on 61 points. But the result did little to mask growing frustration inside the team, with both Colapinto and teammate Pierre Gasly making clear that their current car is not fast enough.

Alpine started the season as the strongest team in the midfield, a run that culminated in a podium for Gasly at Monaco. Rivals have brought upgrades in the months that followed, closing the gap and making results harder to come by.

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Colapinto Salvages a Point

Colapinto crossed the line behind Gabriel Bortoleto and Arvid Lindblad but ahead of Liam Lawson, ending Racing Bulls’ run of scoring with both cars. He credited a strong start for keeping him in the fight all afternoon.

“Happy with the point, of course it’s been very positive with us,” Colapinto said. “We are struggling a little bit with the car, and to score a point in these conditions and be in front of an Audi and a Racing Bulls car, it is more than what we can do, so of course happy with that.”

He was quick to add that the result papered over deeper issues with Alpine’s pace. “We need to improve the car a lot, we are too slow at the moment,” Colapinto said. “Even though we maximised the weekend with a good Quali and a good race, the car needs to be quicker and we are just losing quite a lot of lap time in some corners compared to the Audis and the Racing Bulls.”

Colapinto crossed the line 0.9 seconds ahead of Gasly and just 1.4 seconds clear of Lawson, underlining how tight the midfield battle has become.

A Weekend to Forget for Gasly

Gasly’s Belgian Grand Prix started to go wrong before the race had even begun. He crashed in Friday practice at Spa-Francorchamps, then struggled to get his car moving off the line for the formation lap.

“It started badly, I had no power at the start so I think I lost two positions,” Gasly said. “Managed to make it back, unfortunately after we had a poor stop which put us back again, trying to fight back.”

He described the rest of his afternoon as a frustrating battle that delivered nothing in the end. “Quite a frustrating race, stuck behind Liam for quite a long time, battling, passing, him passing me back which was quite tricky,” Gasly said. “Yeah, unfortunately at the end we lost out and just finished outside the points which was a bit disappointing.”

Gasly pointed to the gap between Alpine and the teams immediately ahead of it as the real concern. “Especially looking at the gaps with the cars ahead, Audi, Bortoleto, Lindblad, we are miles off, so we need to work,” he said.

Asked to sum up the weekend as a whole, Gasly did not soften his verdict. “It is not good enough,” he said.

Looking to Hungary for Answers

Alpine has not announced when its next major upgrade package will arrive, leaving Gasly to wait for improvements that cannot come soon enough for his liking. Colapinto offered a sliver of optimism heading into the next round, suggesting the characteristics of the Hungaroring might work in the car’s favor.

Gasly will find out within days whether that assessment holds up, with the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend beginning on Friday. For a team that started 2026 setting the pace in the midfield, the trip to Budapest carries real stakes in proving Spa was a blip rather than a trend.

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More F1 Reading

• Gabriel Bortoleto Says Audi’s 500-Strong Trackside Crowd Made His Back-to-Back Points Finishes Extra Special
• Andrea Stella Admits McLaren Got the Strategy Wrong as Lando Norris Rues a Lost Belgian Grand Prix Podium
• Arvid Lindblad Extends His Points Streak to Five Races as Racing Bulls’ New Upgrade Pays Off in Belgium
• Why Does Hungary Have A Grand Prix?

Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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