– Alpine is slipping further and further down the midfield in the 2026 Formula 1 season. Pierre Gasly explains why aerodynamics are responsible for the difficult phase the French team is going through. At the same time, the Frenchman hopes for upgrades that should bring improvement at the upcoming Grand Prix in Zandvoort.
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“It’s not the reality I want to see, but you can’t hide from it,” said Gasly after finishing twelfth in Hungary. “For a few races now, it’s somehow the same story in qualifying: twelfth, 13th behind Racing Bulls and Audi. And yes, in the race, you somehow think we might be there, and I can see them, but it’s just pure pace and we’re not there.”
“It doesn’t feel good in the car either,” clarifies the 30-year-old, who for the first time in the 2026 season failed to score points twice in a row in Spa and Budapest. “The car doesn’t react at all the way I’d like it to, it doesn’t allow me to drive the way I need to, and there’s a lot to fix.”
Alpine needs more stability
Gasly clearly explains why Alpine is struggling in the current phase of the championship: “I think the aerodynamics are very inconsistent. That’s something we know, and hopefully, that will be fixed in Zandvoort.” The racing team hopes that the improvements to the cars will bear fruit in the Netherlands, but the competition isn’t sleeping.
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“I think, by Formula 1 standards, we definitely expect it to get better when we bring upgrades,” Gasly continued. “From my side, I have no doubt that it will deliver what the team expects.”
The Frenchman simultaneously warns of the competition: “It’s important because Aston Martin improved by two seconds this weekend, they’re getting a new engine, Racing Bulls improved by seconds at the beginning of the year, Audi too, and we’ve barely made any steps. Yes, so I think it’s critical for us if we want to maintain hope for fifth place in the championship.”
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Colapinto frustrated in Hungary
Gasly’s teammate Franco Colapinto also struggled in Hungary, finishing only 15th. “No, no, of course I’m not very happy,” says the Argentinian. “I think it was a really tricky afternoon. Generally, we lacked an extreme amount of pace.”
Colapinto also had trouble maintaining pace after missing the first practice and having an accident in the second practice: “After the first few laps, I started to really struggle with the car, and after that, it never really recovered. Even with the new tires, we were still extremely far off the pace and really slow.”
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“So I think we need to understand why,” the 23-year-old continued. “Maybe – I don’t know – there was some damage, something happened, because the balance and grip I had were quite strange, it was very, very bad. So we need to go through that and understand what it was.”
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Regarding Aston Martin’s progress over the summer, he says: “Well, I think they look really strong in the corners, and on the straights, they are very slow and lose a lot of lap time there. But in the corners, they are definitely much faster than us. So that shows that a team can make a big step, and hopefully, our upgrade in Zandvoort will also bring us a big step.”
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