Why Alpine was right to commit to Pierre Gasly

As day gave way to night at Silverstone this season on the Saturday of the British Grand Prix, it looked as if a long Sunday was ahead for Pierre Gasly and Alpine. A spin from Gasly hampered his running in FP1, where he finished in P19, and things did not improve much in the second hour of practice, where he finished in P18.

That night, qualifying simulations produced by the official F1 channel showed Gasly and Alpine at the back of the field, more than a second off the pace set by the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

“It has been a very difficult Friday for us. As a team we will work hard together as we have some things we need to fix and we need to find some solutions to unlock more performance,” said Gasly after Friday’s two practice sessions at the British Grand Prix in the team’s media report. “We have a clear idea of where we are struggling, mainly in the high speed and lacking grip. It does not feel like anything we have had all season but I know we will dig through it all and aim to find the fixes.

”We are aiming for a better day tomorrow and I know we can do that with our eyes firmly focused on Qualifying as well as we can.”

But when Q3 came to a close, Gasly had delivered a stunner. The Alpine veteran had booked a spot in the final segment of qualifying, qualifying in P10.

When the race finished on Sunday, Gasly was still inside the top ten, delivering a shocking sixth-place finish for Alpine. Nico Hülkenberg’s maiden F1 podium -- coming in his 239th race start -- drew the bulk of the headlines but Gasly’s dramatic turnaround was also worthy of attention.

“It is an incredible result for the whole team to finish in sixth place. I don’t think we expected to be in that position after our Practice sessions, so credit to everyone for their effort this weekend,” said Gasly after the British Grand Prix. “It’s made even more sweet that it’s at Silverstone, the home race for Enstone, with so many staff members here watching in the grandstands. It’s a great boost of motivation for everyone, so I am very happy. We had some nice on track battles with drivers we don’t normally fight with like Fernando [Alonso], Lewis [Hamilton] and Max [Verstappen], so that was fun.

”It was all about judging the risk and we just tried to go for it. We took the risks and it paid off with the right strategy calls and great pit-stops. I am looking forward to being at the factory this week to continue the hard work and hopefully seeing some smiles tomorrow morning!”

Those smiles will be around Alpine’s hospitality space for a few more years.

The team confirmed on Saturday ahead of qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix that Gasly had put pen to paper on a multi-year contract extension, one that will keep him with the Enstone-based operation through the 2028 F1 season.

“I’m thrilled to commit my long-term future to Alpine. As a Frenchman, especially, driving for a French car company, makes me feel very proud,” said Gasly in a media statement on Saturday. “Since I joined in 2023, I have always felt that this team is the right place to be for the future. Flavio’s [Briatore] support and belief in me, François’ [Provost] commitment to the Formula One project, as well as the people we have in Enstone made this a natural decision and I want to be here in years to come and deliver on our joint objective: to win races and world championships.

”We’re all in this together and I look forward to continuing this special story.”

“Since I returned to the team, I have always stated how important it is to build and grow the competitiveness of BWT Alpine Formula One Team,” added Senior Advisor Flavio Briatore. “We’re well prepared for the new era of Formula One, beginning in 2026, and now we have our lead driver confirmed to bring us well into the future. Pierre has been an immense asset for the team during this challenging period. I have been very impressed with his attitude, dedication and talent and we look forward to continuing this project together for a long time.”

Gasly’s extension makes a tremendous amount of sense for Alpine, and the veteran driver’s performance at Silverstone is but one reason why. In a year where Alpine’s challenger has languished at the back of the grid and often well off the pace, the fact that Gasly has managed to deliver any points at all is impressive. But even with a challenger that is often the slowest car on the grid -- and where the team has all but turned their attention to next year and the incoming regulation changes -- the fact that Gasly is still dragging the A525 in the points when he can is a testament to his skill as a driver, and his relentless pursuit of speed.

To that point, Gasly is the only driver on the grid this season who has scored all of his team’s points.

Alpine is still looking for the right answer alongside him. To that point, Briatore noted that young Franco Colapinto has stepped up his game in recent weeks. Colapinto finished 11th at last week’s Dutch Grand Prix, his best result this season.

“For the moment I believe Franco is doing a good job,” Briatore told Sky Sports F1. “He paid a bit for [his] inexperience in the beginning, like a lot of the rookies, a lot of young drivers.

“Now in the last three, four races, he’s much more consistent, no mistakes, and maybe Franco, maybe we’ll see. We have another four or five races to judge, and after we’ll see.

“You see all the rookies we have this year, the first six or seven races were difficult for everybody,” Briatore added.

“Now I think Franco is in the line to be stabilising himself. He’s driving well, has very nice communication with the engineering [team]. Let’s see.”

But with Gasly, the team has its rock for the present.

And the future.