Gasly ‘pretty relieved’ to score vital points for Alpine in Spain

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly admitted he was “pretty relieved” to secure a much-needed top-ten finish in last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, ending a difficult triple-header with a morale-boosting points result in Barcelona.

Gasly’s eighth-place finish – elevated from ninth after Max Verstappen’s time penalty – provided a boost for a team under pressure in F1’s tightly contested Constructors’ Championship.

Gasly lined up eighth on Sunday’s grid, and though Alpine had reason for optimism, the race proved far from straightforward.

Strategy calls became crucial in the final stages of the 66-lap event, particularly with the appearance of a late Safety Car, during which Alpine capitalised on a free pit stop window to switch Gasly to soft tyres.

That call allowed the Frenchman to hold firm under pressure from behind, though he narrowly missed out on challenging Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar ahead.

Nonetheless, the result marked a valuable turnaround following a difficult run of form.

“It was a more challenging Sunday for us but, all in all, it is a good outcome for us to score points today,” Gasly said post-race.

“It has been a challenging start to the season, quite a difficult triple header in recent weeks for us and we knew, as a team, after Monaco, we needed to bounce back here in Barcelona with some points.”

“Qualifying was really good but we seem to struggle more on Sundays. We have plenty to review from today’s race as I was pretty relieved to see the Safety Car near the end and the team did a great job to make the right call to give me a free gap to pit for fresh tyres.”

Despite the encouraging finish, Alpine still slipped to 10th in the Constructors’ standings, edged out by Sauber thanks to Nico Hulkenberg’s standout P5 result.

Colapinto’s Disappointing Afternoon

While Gasly delivered a gritty drive and a strong result for the team, Alpine’s second car – driven by rookie Franco Colapinto – had a far tougher outing.

Starting from the back of the grid, the Argentine clawed his way to P13 during his first stint but admitted the race was a difficult experience from start to finish, the 22-year-old ultimately crossing the checkered flag 16th.

“It was a disappointing afternoon and a tough race,” he said. “We had better pace today than earlier in the weekend, which is a positive but it is a tricky circuit to overtake so it was generally a hard one to manage and make any progress.

“The tyres were suffering a lot in the dirty air, which made things even more difficult.

“It goes to show how important track position is in races and I know there is more to improve on that front on my side, especially maximising the car’s potential on low fuel [in qualifying].”

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