Alpine holds midfield lead but drivers admit: “We’re too slow”

Alpine left Spa-Francorchamps still sitting atop Formula 1’s fiercely contested midfield battle, but the mood inside the French outfit was anything but celebratory after the Belgian Grand Prix.

A hard-earned point from Franco Colapinto ensured the Enstone squad avoided surrendering ground to Racing Bulls in the constructors’ standings, keeping the two rivals locked together on 61 points.

Yet beneath the result lies a more troubling reality: both Alpine drivers believe the team’s package is no longer capable of matching its closest competitors.

Colapinto maximises opportunity amid pace deficit

Colapinto's race was built on a strong opening lap and determined defending thereafter. Although he finished behind Gabriel Bortoleto and Arvid Lindblad, he succeeded in keeping Liam Lawson at bay, a result that prevented Racing Bulls from placing both cars in the points.

The margins were razor-thin. Colapinto crossed the line less than a second ahead of teammate Gasly and only 1.4 seconds clear of Lawson after spending much of the afternoon fighting for every position.

That Alpine was able to score at all was largely down to execution rather than outright speed – a fact not lost on Colapinto.

“Happy with the point, of course it’s been very positive with us,” the Argentinean driver said.

“We are struggling a little bit with the car, and to score a point in these conditions and be in front of an Audi and a [Racing Bulls car], it is more than what we [thought we] can do, so of course happy with that.”

Colapinto’s point could prove crucial in a midfield fight that has tightened significantly over recent races. Alpine began the season as the clear benchmark behind Formula 1’s leading teams, a run of form highlighted by Pierre Gasly’s podium finish in Monaco.

Since then, however, rivals have steadily chipped away at their advantage through development gains.
And Spa offered further evidence that Alpine’s competitors may now have the upper hand.

“We need to improve the car a lot, we are too slow at the moment,” Colapinto added.

“Even though we maximised the weekend with a good Quali and a good race, the car needs to be quicker and we are just losing quite a lot of lap time in some corners compared to the Audis and the [Racing Bulls’].”

Gasly's frustration boils over

If Colapinto could at least take satisfaction from his point, Gasly left Spa with little to celebrate.

The Frenchman endured a weekend to forget. After crashing during Friday practice, his race was compromised almost immediately when a technical issue affected his getaway for the formation lap.

“It started badly, I had no power at the start so I think I lost two positions. Managed to make it back, unfortunately after we had a poor stop which put us back again, trying to fight back…” said the Frenchman of his afternoon.

What followed was a frustrating battle in the midfield pack, with Gasly repeatedly trading positions with Lawson while struggling to make meaningful progress.

“Quite a frustrating race, stuck behind Liam [Lawson] for quite a long time, battling, passing, him passing me back which was quite tricky. Yeah, unfortunately at the end we lost out and just finished outside the points which was a bit disappointing,” he said.

“Especially looking at the gaps with the cars ahead, Audi, Bortoleto, Lindblad, we are miles off, so we need to work.”

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The result continued a difficult spell for Gasly. After scoring in each of the opening seven Grands Prix, he has now collected just a single point across the last three race weekends.

And when asked what positives Alpine could take away from Belgium, his response left little room for interpretation: “It’s not good enough!”

With Racing Bulls now level on points and momentum seemingly swinging away from Alpine, the team's next upgrade package cannot arrive soon enough.

For now, the only source of optimism comes from Colapinto's belief that next weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix could better suit the characteristics of the car.

Whether the tighter, slower-speed corners of the Hungaroring provide relief remains to be seen. But after Spa, Alpine's drivers made one thing abundantly clear: staying on top of the midfield will require more than simply maximising what they have. It will require a faster car.

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