– The qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid (follow live here in the ticker) ended for the Alpine team with completely contrasting emotions. While Franco Colapinto shone with a strong ninth starting position and exceeded expectations, teammate Pierre Gasly experienced an inexplicable debacle in 14th place.
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For Pierre Gasly, qualifying was a frustrating setback that left more questions than answers. After promising practice sessions, the performance of his car suddenly collapsed completely. “Q1 was nowhere, Q2 was nowhere,” sums up a baffled Gasly after the session.
“At the moment, I have absolutely no idea how the car could have changed so much compared to the whole weekend. I felt super comfortable in the car and was very happy with the balance,” the Frenchman describes.
The problems went far beyond normal fluctuations due to changing track temperatures. The 30-year-old describes the handling as completely out of control: “I lose rubber in every corner, slide sideways, and that in all fast sections. It just feels like something is not quite right.”
When asked if there might be a defect or a serious setup error, he confirms this suspicion: “Yes, something along those lines, because the balance and grip have shifted extremely. From the beginning to the end of the lap, I spent the whole time counter-steering in the opposite direction. It just doesn’t make sense.”
Gasly expects a race in nowhere land
This setback is particularly bitter for Gasly with Sunday in mind, as the layout of the Madrid circuit makes overtaking extremely difficult. The Frenchman appears correspondingly disillusioned: “After yesterday, I was super confident that we could qualify in the top 10 and have the pace to fight there even with a lot of fuel.”
“But honestly: If the car is like this tomorrow, I’m going nowhere. I have to find some answers tonight.”
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F1: Spanish Grand Prix (Madrid) 2026
The situation presented itself very differently on the other side of the Alpine garage. Franco Colapinto delivered a strong performance that culminated in a furious Q2 lap. “The Q2 lap was amazing. I am very happy and proud of the result because this track should actually always be tricky for us,” explains the Argentine.
He originally sees the layout more as an advantage for the Audi competition, as Alpine is strong on the straights and in slow corners but has weaknesses when driving over the curbs. “That we made it into Q3 and are ahead of Audi is a very good result. The Q2 lap was one of the best I have ever driven.”
Colapinto nearly spins out
Colapinto literally balanced on a razor’s edge. In the fast turn 12, he experienced a massive scare that normally destroys any lap time. “That was pretty spectacular. We were going there at 260 km/h,” he reports about the near spin.
“In Q2 you just have to push, and I had this big slide but was able to catch the car. Then putting the lap together afterwards is all the trickier because you lose a lot of confidence after such a slide.”
For Colapinto, the strong result was also a personal satisfaction after his annoying mistake the previous weekend in Italy. “I have worked hard since Monza. I think I learned a lot from the qualifying there and showed a much better performance here,” he draws the direct comparison.
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Although he was nominally further ahead as eighth in Monza, the ninth place in Madrid is to be rated significantly higher: “We had a much faster car in relation to the others in Monza. Today was an absolutely maximized qualifying.”
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