After a shaky start to the season, Alpine seems to have found its footing in China: Gasly confirmed his 7th-place finish from the Sprint Qualifying in the main qualifying session
In Melbourne, after qualifying, people were still talking about a start to the season that hadn’t gone as hoped. Pierre Gasly was at least able to limit the damage by scoring a point in the race. In China, however, Alpine seems to have found something that builds on the test sessions in Bahrain and is turning heads.
In Shanghai, Gasly confirmed his strong form from the Sprint Qualifying and once again finished 7th in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. This placed the Frenchman ahead of both Red Bull drivers. Unlike in the Sprint, where the Alpine driver dropped back to 11th place, the team also made some changes with Sunday in mind.
“We’re now running with significantly more front wing. Hopefully that will help us tomorrow as well. Yesterday’s qualifying went well, but this morning’s race was more of a disappointment because our tires degraded way too quickly,” said Gasly after the session.
“It’s absolutely encouraging for the entire team to see that we’re the fourth-fastest team on the grid in some sessions,” the Frenchman said with satisfaction. So is this the true Alpine pace we’ll see in China?
The 30-year-old is certain: “If we were to race in Melbourne again right now, I’d be in Q3 there and would likely be competing much further up the field in the race as well.” There, the team had to “process an enormous amount of data.”
“We definitely took a step forward this weekend,” Gasly continues. “Not even because of new parts, but simply through small fine-tuning adjustments to the setup. We can tell that the basic speed is there, but we also know that there’s still plenty of untapped potential in our current package.”
Even though it’s tight in the midfield, the outlook is particularly encouraging: “If you look at the gap to the front—three tenths behind McLaren—they’re not miles away.”
Nevertheless, Gasly is putting the brakes on the euphoria: “The development battle will progress at breakneck speed this season.” That’s why it’s extremely important to maintain “a high pace of development.” “We have to make sure we don’t lose touch with that group for the rest of the year.”
Whether it’s the start of a journey or just a brief spark due to track-specific characteristics: things are also shifting at Alpine in terms of motivation. “I definitely feel more alive again; that really lifts my spirits,” says the Alpine driver, who is likely still feeling the effects of the disastrous 2025 season. “Nevertheless, there is still a massive amount of work ahead of us. That was just a single session.”
His teammate Franco Colapinto hasn’t yet been able to unlock Alpine’s apparent potential. Doubts remain as to whether the Frenchman can simply push the car beyond its actual limits. But these questions don’t matter at all to the French team as long as the results are there.
That’s why the clear goal is to build a small cushion at the back of the field. But Alpine isn’t shying away from setting bigger goals just one race weekend after its shaky start. Gasly wants to “close in on the teams ahead of us and, ideally, jump right into that battle.” “Will we succeed in the end?” the 30-year-old promptly takes on the unanswered question himself: “No idea.”
