Alpine racers Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto endured a difficult Austria race weekend. Despite starting in the top ten, Gasly eventually came home to finish 13th. Colapinto, on the other hand, only finished 15th, as both drivers completed the Austrian race a lap down.
Heading into Austria, Alpine sat tenth in the standings. Although, Gasly had set the early pace for Alpine in FP1, going fifth fastest at the end of 60 minutes of running. This sparked hope for the team going forward.
While both Alpine cars made it into Q2, only Gasly made it into Q3. Colapinto managed to qualify only 14th. Gasly, meanwhile, qualified tenth for the race, with a trip across the turn 10 run-off resulting in him spinning twice onto the start/finish straight.
In the race, both drivers slid back from their positions, with Gasly finishing 13th and Colapinto 15th. Alpine continued to remain last in the drivers’ standings. They would lose even more ground to the likes of Aston Martin, Kick Sauber, Racing Bulls and Haas, who scored points in the Austrian GP.
Gasly disappointed as Alpine fail to score in Austria
Despite starting on softs and moving up to sixth at the end of lap 1, Gasly simply didn’t stand a chance to the chasing pack. The Frenchman believed he was experiencing more tyre wear and degradation compared to his fellow competitors. He also believed something was broken on his Alpine during the race.
“It’s a shame the race wasn’t one lap long. In terms of ours, it was disappointing,” Gasly said.
“It was a good start, looking good. After that, we got some damage for pretty much the biggest part of the race. So we were just nowhere and there wasn’t much to do, so we tried to stick on track and every corner was extremely tough.”
The Frenchman believed his race changed at the first pit stop, essentially explaining the balance of the car changed. “That’s a kind way of saying it,” he mentioned, when asked if it was indeed the case.
When asked if he stood a chance of retaining his position for the remainder of the race, Gasly wasn’t optimistic. “I think it’s hard to say. At the moment, looking at the Stake [Kick Sauber], they’re extremely competitive in terms of degradation.
“I think we are not in the best spot. So, when I see some guys doing one stop, it’s quite impressive. I mean, we know we have got work to do on Sunday. How much exactly is difficult to say, I need to check with the guys exactly,” he said.
When asked about his expectations for the second half of 2025, Gasly expressed his continuity to battle hard. “I think we’re going to fight with this car, I know that’s the car we got, and we’ll try our best. Today, we put ourselves in the best position after the first lap in sixth behind George, best of the midfield. We need to try to repeat that and put our elbows out and try to defend as hard as we can,” he concluded.
Gasly currently sits 16th in the championship for Alpine, having scored all of their 11 points so far.
Colapinto explains Piastri incident in another Alpine no-score in Austria
Gasly’s teammate Franco Colapinto too failed to score in Austria. Starting 14th, the Argentine endured what he termed a “frustrating afternoon” caught up in incidents.
“Frustrating afternoon, I think,” he mentioned. “Didn’t really work out starting on ourselves, I guess. I don’t really know yet. I think we just struggled with the car, with the balance. It didn’t really work well for us today as a team. And we didn’t have the pace.”
“I got a good ending to the race. I think I was getting quicker with the laps,” Colapinto concluded.
The Alpine man found himself caught up in incidents with Yuki Tsunoda at turn 4, while he nearly ran championship leader Oscar Piastri off the road on the third DRS straight heading into turn 4.
“I lost quite a lot of lap time compared to Pierre. And then, yeah, I think the last stint was good. Just with the damage of Tsunoda, a damaged front wing and floor,” Colapinto explained.
With regards to his run-in with Piastri, Colapinto stated that he was too eager to pass Tsunoda, and not focused on Piastri behind. “I just didn’t see him,” Colapinto said.
“He was in my blind spot, and I was focused on Tsunoda. I just really wanted to get past him. I couldn’t see [Piastri],” he continued.
When asked if he was spooked by the incident, Colapinto quickly mentioned, “Yeah, I moved quick.”
Colapinto highlights Alpine boss Briatore’s support in continuity after Austria
Austria also marked the end of Colapinto’s five-race deal with Alpine. News from earlier in the weekend also highlighted the Argentine staying on at the team, evaluated on a race-by-race basis.
Colapinto spoke post-race about team boss Briatore’s support and backing, a facet that has helped him so far.
“Yeah, I think as a team, I am,” Colapinto said, answering if he had hit his performance targets. “And the team is focusing as well on improving the car. We looked a bit weak today, and we just need to do some stuff going forward.”
“I think the car has been a bit tricky for me to drive at the moment. Not very consistent. It’s quick, but I think the reactivity just didn’t give me the confidence that I needed to push in the high-speed areas. It was a tough weekend. I think overall we did some stuff forward, but it felt like something didn’t click yet,” Colapinto concluded.
When asked about team boss Briatore’s assistance, Colapinto spoke praise of the Italian supremo. “I think he in has been very supportive and he trusts in the decision he made,” he said.
While Colapinto searches for his first points of 2025, he will certainly be under immense scrutiny every race weekend.
