Alpine shows promising qualifying in Las Vegas with Gasly after Friday practice – Colapinto probably wanted too much in a corner

Alpine ended a long dry spell at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix when Pierre Gasly finally scored World Championship points again after three months. One of the reasons for the long wait was an early focus on the development of the 2026 car.

But Brazil has something in common with Las Vegas: both are tracks that the Frenchman has enjoyed in the past. Although Gasly has not yet managed to secure a podium finish in the Nevada desert as he did in Brazil, he has already achieved two top-five qualifying results, finishing fifth in 2023 and third in 2024.

And historically, the Alpine has always been a little faster in Las Vegas than its usual season pace. Accordingly, the 29-year-old was optimistic after Friday’s practice sessions, despite two twelfth places: “The goal is to be in the mix for Q3.”

Gasly puzzles his way to 10th place

Due to missing the third free practice session, Gasly had to “put everything together extremely quickly,” but with his slightly pinker Alpine, he quickly found his rhythm in qualifying on the slippery streets of Las Vegas. Nevertheless, the conditions will probably rob him of his sleep tonight: “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight, I still have so much adrenaline in my body.”

“It’s always about risk and reward—how much risk you take, what you feel, and how hard you can push. You can’t even blink for a tenth of a second at the wheel because something is always happening,” said the Frenchman, describing the conditions on the track.

Gasly clearly found the right balance and put his Alpine in 6th place in Q1, followed by a strong 7th place in Q2 – ahead of Fernando Alonso, Charles Leclerc, and the current World Championship runner-up Oscar Piastri. (For the current standings in the Drivers’ Championship) In the end, the Frenchman secured 10th place on the starting grid for the Las Vegas Grand Prix in “one of the most difficult qualifying sessions of my entire Formula 1 career.”

Colapinto crashes in turn 15

Gasly’s teammate Franco Colapinto also made it through the first part of qualifying in a solid 11th place, despite a few spectacular spins. “We’ve improved a lot, but it was just extremely difficult out there,” Colapinto said after the session. “The amount of rain and standing water was enormous, and the asphalt and white lines, which you couldn’t even touch, made it feel even worse.”

It was precisely this kind of situation that knocked the Argentine out of contention for a place in the top 10. “The lap was good, I was clearly ahead in the delta until I hit the kerb and the car skidded away in turn 15. It was a huge slide, I almost lost the car – luckily not into the wall – but of course the time was gone.“

Colapinto will therefore start the race from 15th place, but he is in a fighting mood: ”Hopefully it will stay dry tomorrow, then we can fight our way forward and drive towards the points.”

Fewer Las Vegas surprises, more points?

Steve Nielsen, Alpine Managing Director, sees similar chances of scoring points: “As a team, we have a few points we need to improve, but we are in a competitive position tomorrow and have our sights set firmly on the points.” (To the qualifying report)

Surprisingly, Gasly is less optimistic about the prospects of success in the race. However, this also has to do with the past in Las Vegas: “My qualifying sessions have mostly been better than my races lately. Last year, our engine blew up here, and the year before that, we had massive graining. So it will be interesting,” said the Alpine driver.

“At this stage of the season, I’ve stopped having expectations. I go into the race, give it my all—and then we’ll see what happens in the end,” Gasly continued. “But I think we should be in the fight for points.”